Edge Hill University - History

History

Edge Hill College was opened on 24 January 1885 on Durning Road, Edge Hill, Liverpool, named after the district in which it was sited. It was the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England. By 1892, Edge Hill was one of only two colleges in England combining teacher training and degree course study.

As student numbers increased, Edge Hill quickly outgrew its surroundings. The institution was handed over to the Lancashire Education Committee, with the foundation stone for the present Ormskirk campus laid on 26 October 1931. Between 1939 and 1946, the college was evacuated to Bingley, in Yorkshire, and the Ormskirk site was requisitioned for use as a military hospital.

Edge Hill became a mixed college, admitting its first male students in October 1959, when it had about 500 students in total. The institution has since expanded rapidly; with further developments at Ormskirk and the absorption of the former Sefton School of Health Studies, in 2011 there are over 25,000 students including over 9,000 studying full-time.

In 2005, Edge Hill was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers by the Privy Council. On 18 May 2006 the institution became Edge Hill University.

A history of the University, A Vision of Learning: Edge Hill University 1885-2010 by Mark Flinn and Fiona Montgomery, was published in 2010 (Third Millennium Publishing Ltd ISBN 978-1-906507-48-0). This follows earlier historical surveys written by Fiona Montgomery.