If you are checking out Belfast Metropolis, then your go to will not be entire except you go to Queen’s College. It was started back in 1845 and has survived and flourished as an establishment of studying, with a wonderful standing during the entire world.
The Queen’s University has a coat of arms which contains a crown in its centre immediately after its founder Queen Victoria. Previously mentioned that is the e book of learning, to the remaining the crimson hand which symbolises the Province of Ulster, to the right is the seahorse representing the city of Belfast and in the bottom quadrant is the harp symbolizing Ireland.
It has been recognised as:
- Queen’s Higher education 1845-1881
- Royal University 1881-1908
- Queen’s University 1908 onwards
Queen’s University is situated just a 10 minute walk from Belfast Metropolis Centre on University Highway and is near to Botanic Gardens. It is perfectly indication posted from the Town Centre so need to be uncomplicated to come across. If you favor a taxi, then it is only a few minute’s drive to get there. When you arrive go to the entrance of the college which I have revealed in the photograph higher than. On your suitable you will see a small terrace of brown brick residences which back again in 1845, marked the close of Belfast Metropolis boundary.
Nevertheless searching to your suitable you will see the terrace of University Square which was constructed in a Georgian fashion as a speculative venture among 1849 and 1872. The team could not find the money for these properties besides for 1 man or woman, the initial Higher education Bursar, Alexander Dickey, who as it happened was also a greengrocer. The University owns all of these now and is in my belief the greatest example of terrace housing from Georgian Belfast.
If you transform about from in this article and search across the street you will see the Student’s Union which was opened in 1966, just 3 yrs before The Difficulties begun, and it has all the architectural functions (or absence of) from that period. To the left of that is Elmwood Hall, which was the moment a church and at its entrance is a War Memorial to the Queens males and ladies who died in both Globe Wars. This was unveiled by the Duke and Duchess of York in 1924.
To the still left once again is the Sir William Whitla Hall, designed by John McCreagh which started out to be built in 1939 and was done in 1946. It breaks with the tradition of Tudor Gothic which the relaxation of the University is based on. It is time to turn again all over now and after once more check out the entrance of the College. Seem specifically as a result of the gates and you will see the unique college, intended by Sir Charles Lanyon in 1849. Lanyon is in all probability the most well-known architect in Belfast and also intended, 38 churches, Custom’s House, the Queen’s Bridge and the Antrim Coast Highway. Fairly a pedigree!
He was a assets speculator and also grew to become the Lord Mayor of Belfast. In my viewpoint Queen’s College is his crowning glory and if you glance intently, you will see the spires, the gargoyles, the flattened arches all carried out in purple brick. This was a well-known type in the mid 19th Century and was made preferred by Barry and Pugin who finished the Homes of Parliament in Westminster, London. Lanyon, supposedly used the Founder’s Tower at Magdalen Higher education in Oxford as his inspiration to build Queens. Initially there were being school rooms to the remaining, the President’s Business was in the true tower, the Terrific Hall is on your correct and the tower outside of was the home of the Vice-President of the College.
Wander by way of the gates and now move into the College exactly where you will be greeted by the Entrance Corridor. You need to now be standing on a mosaic floor which shows the arms of the Province of Ulster, quartered with the Royal Arms of Queen Victoria.. This crimson hand topic, the image of the Province of Ulster is a trend that persists during the University. Go by way of the doors and immediately in front of you, you will see a statue of Galileo built by Pio Fedi. Sir William Whitla introduced this statue back again from Italy and gave it to the College.
On the photo on the left, glance previously mentioned the statue of Galileo and you will see a attractive stained glass window. This was intended in 1939 by J.E.Nuttgens but was not erected right until right after the 2nd world war. But all over again the crimson hand is existing in this article as perfectly as the other symbols of Queen’s College.
To your remaining in which you have just entered is the Queen’s Visitor Centre and at its entrance you will obtain a plaque in honour of Edwin Godkin. He still left Queens without having a degree and became a war correspondent in the Crimean War. He eventually emigrated to the United States and founded “The Country” which he edited for 35 yrs. Go as a result of this door and change appropriate and observe the stairs to the landing. To your proper is the Canada Home which was once utilized for lectures and as Zoology museum, in advance of getting workplaces and then becoming redesigned by Robert McKinstry in 1986. The space is panelled in Canadian Maple and embellished with the coats of arms of Canada.
You can now go as a result of the double doorways into the Tutorial Council Chamber and into what was once a lecture place. This gives you an idea of the entire peak of the building and you can see the well known Lanyon roof trusses. Go again out to the landing now and by means of the double doorways which ought to be experiencing you. This is the Artwork Gallery, the place there need to be a Curator current to reveal the hottest exhibition. Go back downstairs and the moment once again into the Entrance Hall. Stick to the indicators now to the Terrific Corridor.
Please observe the movie above which offers you some appealing data about the Good Corridor. This corridor was utilised as a refectory and assessment corridor. Prior to leaving, be aware the portrait of the guy in the overcoat, pink scarf and hat who is regarded as “Dickie Hunter.” He was a lecturer in anatomy and secretary of the University and his hobby was to prepare Christmas Circuses in Belfast Metropolis and act as the ringmaster. His strange pose is most likely ideal discussed as he studied artwork in Paris. Now go back by means of the entrance doorways and turn remaining going outdoors and into a quadrangle. In this article you can see the back again of the unique college with some later additions.
You are standing in the cloisters and proper at the rear of you, up on the chimney breast, you can see the cipher “VR” (Victoria Regina) with the day 1848. Reverse you can see the well-known window in the chimney, which is wherever Thomas Andrews and a distinguished chemist had his fume cabinet. In the center of the cloistered facade is the clock. It was not Lanyon’s intention to make a quadrangle and this only came about all through a rebuilding programme from 1910-1912.. Appear to your appropriate and you will see the University of Physics, whit one more fantastic tower which was developed by William Henry Lynn in 1911. Instantly reverse is the Library Tower erected in 1952 and following to that is the Peter Froggatt teaching centre. If you now wander throughout the quadrangle and by means of the 1952 Arch, specifically in front of you is the University Library also made by Lynn. You will see in this article a improve in architectural fashion and this influence is down to John Ruskin and the “Ruskinesque Gothic” type.
The library was prolonged in 1911 and it has in fact been re-modelled numerous periods. The when open up areas of the library have now presented way to reserve stacks. The library as you can think about is constantly in use and a guideline is demanded if you want to pay a visit to. Go by means of the archway concerning the library structures and you will see the total scale of the University Sq. with its substantial bay windows. Return again by the arches and when you convert remaining you will come to the University of Tunes. Likely back again as significantly as 1895 was a clinical school with a college bolted on. The then healthcare students lifted cash and developed the original male Student Union, which is the central component of this spectacular block. It has been extended 2 times in 1911 and then in 1933. It is now known as the Harty Place and in my view has the very best hammer beam roof in Ireland.
Go inside of and appreciate by turning ideal and walking up to the McMordie Hall, which was once a debating chamber with stained glass home windows. This is not usually open up and you may have to ask at reception for obtain. Once completed there wander down the ramp and you can then stop by the Seamus Heaney Library which stands on the web site of what was the aged drill corridor. Convert correct there and go up the steps and you can pay a visit to the previous Physic’s Tower on your remaining. It is an strange piece of architecture and you will see previously mentioned the arch the outdated Royal College coat of arms, which was carved by Morris Harding in 1948, alongside with the shamrocks, leeks roses and thistles carved on the vaults. You will also see the arms of Lord Kelvin and the Earl of Rosse and on the far facet of the archway the arms of Sir Isaac Newton and the Earls of Cork and Orrey.
Your tour finishes right here as you return back again to the College entrance. With any luck , this tour will have given you a perception of those people who have passed by its halls, and a feeling of the understanding that has been created and uncovered more than the decades. We at the Belfast City Web site, would comprehensively suggest this tour.
