Jordanhill College, Glasgow, Scotland

The Jordanhill Campus is an historic estate in Glasgow, Scotland, and was the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathclyde until 2012.

Visited December 2017   Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, UK

The Jordanhill Campus is an historic estate within the boundaries of Jordanhill in Glasgow, Scotland. The buildings have stood empty since 2012, until which time it served as the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathclyde.

The buildings date back to 1837 when former merchant and educational pioneer David Stow opened the Dundas Vale Normal Seminary, Europe’s first purpose-built training institution for teachers. Some remnants of the old seminary still remain today – rooms with rows of sinks which were more recently used as storage, and wooden lockers can still be found.

In 1913 the Glasgow Corporation agreed a deal to buy the estate, and build both a teacher training college and the associated Jordanhill School on the site. A new building was planned to provide teacher training. With the new school completed in 1920 and the college in 1921, the now Grade B listed David Stow Building facilitated all teacher training provided under the unified University of Glasgow. Centrally funded and with no ties with churches, the college was largely non-residential and its range of work was wider.

A shortage of teachers throughout Britain in the late 1950s lead to large scale expansion at Jordanhill. Construction of a new purpose-built facility commenced in 1961, replacing a much older manor house on the site.

In 1993, the college was required to merge with a higher education facility. The University of Strathclyde approached the college, and an agreement between both institutions was reached. In 1993 Jordanhill College became the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathclyde.

With better use of facilities, and an ageing campus at Jordanhill which was highly protected by preservation orders, in 2010 the decision was made to close Jordanhill campus and move the Faculty all courses to its John Anderson Campus. 2011-12 was the last academic year held at the Jordanhill Campus before the move took place.

David Stow Building – Entrance Hall

Francis Tombs Hall

Staircases and Corridors

Teaching rooms and facilities

Other areas

Hidden Relics

There were a few areas around the building that hadn’t been refurbished and contained relics from older uses.