Names on Campus
Since its inception as a place of education in 1964 our Lancaster campus has had the tradition of naming the buildings after prominent people.
How many names have you noticed when you were a student here? William Thompson, Sarah Witham Thompson, Sentamu, Waddell, Hugh Pollard, Harold Bridges... Who are these people who lent their names to our campus and what connection do they have to the university?
William Thompson Hall
Arguably the most famous building on campus? Officially opened by Princes Margaretha of Sweden in March 1966 our tower block is a true city landmark, all Lancaster alumni have a story about the ‘Willy Tom’. But have you ever wondered who actually is William Thompson?
William Thompson (1893-1974) was a Burnley cotton manufacturer and philanthropist. His uncle was James Witham Thompson who donated a large amount of money in his will to build Thompson Park in Burnley.
Well known as thrifty, William led a modest life with no television or radio and his favourite pastimes included walking in the local park and having a beer or three in his local pub. He was awarded the OBE for his services to his country, and he is buried in a large family vault at Burnley Cemetary.
William Thomspon donated £50,000 for the building of the William Thompson Hall after an approach was made by St Martin’s College Principal Hugh Pollard.
Sarah Witham Thompson Halls
The Sarah Witham Thompson Halls, designed by architect Charles Pike, was a three-story block, part of a set of three blocks of residences initially for female students built on the barrack square of the Bowerham Barracks site. Legend has it that Hugh Pollard approached Sarah Witham Thompson, the sister of William Thomspon, and explained that her brother was donating a large sum of money and would she also like to donate. Clearly, Dr Pollard was persuasive, and perhaps Sarah was competitive, Sarah donated £15,000 to build the residence block.
Waddell Halls
Waddell Halls are the ‘newer’ larger residences on campus, located behind the sports fields, split into two blocks, North and South.
The halls of residence are named after Donald Wadell who was the Town Clerk for Lancaster City Council.
It was Donald who suggested the Bowerham Barracks site as the location for the new College of Education which was later named St. Martin’s College. Donald was part of the steering group for the college and his support and guidance was greatly appreciated by the first principal Hugh Pollard.
On his retirement from the council in 1979, he was awarded the OBE in recognition of his public service and the Honorary Freedom of the City of Lancaster.
Donald was on the governing body of the college until the 1990s, most notably as Vice Chairman. In 2005 he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship for his contribution to the development of the college.
Donald Waddell died in 2011.
Hugh Pollard Lecture Theatre
The lecture theatre was named after the founding principal of St Martin’s College, Dr Hugh Mortimer Pollard. Officially opened by Dr Pollard’s friend the playwright Alan Bennett.
Universally well-liked and respected by all his students, Dr Pollard was a charismatic, well connected and passionate educationist, educated at Oxford University. He lived on campus in Lancaster in an upside-down Swedish design house and he took particular care to get to know all his students well, often inviting them round to his house for a drink. He created a family atmosphere on campus often ensuring there were lecturers late on a Friday night and early Saturday morning to make sure students remained on campus at the weekends, helping to foster friendships that would last a lifetime.
On his retirement in 1976, he was awarded the OBE; the previous year, he was made a chevalier of the Royal Order of Vasa in Sweden. In 1989, he received an honorary LLD from the University of Lancaster.
Hugh Pollard died in 2005 aged 89.
Harold Bridges Library
Officially opened in 1976 by the actress Dame Flora Robson, our iconic library building sits at the foot of campus, the first building you see as you walk up the hill. Built a decade after St Martin’s College was established after a period of rapid growth.
Harold Bridges (1900 – 1990) was born in Flyde and had a humble beginning. After failing to secure a position as an army driver in the First World War due to a speech impediment he learnt of new opportunities for self-employment in the emerging trade of parcel carriage by road.
He eventually ended up running a successful haulage business, owning several hundred vehicles and multiple operations through his company Bridges Transport Limited.
In 1974, Harold provided £16,000 towards the library donating what would equate to around £150,000 today. On 14 March 1974, Harold Bridges laid the foundation stone for a new library, the stone and photo can still be seen displayed in the library corridor on the ground floor today. In the 1990s Harold generously supported the library again donating funds to help build an extension to the library, though sadly he did not live to see this completed.
Harold was awarded the OBE in recognition of his charitable donations in 1974.
The Harold and Alice Bridges Charity was established in 1963 and the charity still operates today. The present-day trustees of the charity generously supported the library again in 2017 donating to a refurbishment and modernisation project for the ground floor.
Sentamu Building
The newest building on campus, completed in 2017 was named in honour of the then Chancellor of the University of Cumbria, the Archbishop of York Dr John Sentamu.
Inaugurated as Chancellor on 1 August 2007, Dr Sentamu served as Chancellor since the university's inception.
Born in Uganda in 1949 and trained in law, Dr Sentamu was ordained as a priest in 1979, before becoming Bishop of Stepney in 1996, and Bishop of Birmingham in 2002. He was installed as Archbishop of York in 2005. He was Primate of England and Metropolitan, a member of the House of Lords and a Privy Councillor.
He is married to Margaret, and they have two grown-up children, Grace and Geoffrey and two grown-up foster children.
Dr Sentamu retired from his role as Archbishop of York and therefore also the Chancellor of the University of Cumbria in June 2020. He was awarded the university‘s inaugural Honorary Doctorate in November 2019.
How many more names on campus have you spotted and can you tell us the stories behind them? Get in touch alumni@cumbria.ac.uk