University of Gloucestershire and its predecessor colleges and Reverend Francis Close (1827-Current)

It has taken two centuries of evolution to produce a University in Gloucestershire by building on the traditions, diversity and commitment of the different institutions which have existed during that period.

The nineteenth century was a time of social reform and the University's earliest roots can be traced to the local Mechanics Institutes (Cheltenham 1834 and Gloucester 1840). A parallel development was the work of an Evangelical clergyman, Francis Close, who saw a need for trained teachers. A training college with a Church Foundation Trust was established in Cheltenham in 1847. Separate Schools of Art and Science were established in the middle of the nineteenth century in both Cheltenham and Gloucester. By the turn of the twentieth century, mergers had brought these two disciplines together, and technology was also a recognised need to support local business and industry. Women's education was recognised as important and a college of Cookery and Domestic Science was established in Gloucester in 1890. It is not surprising that evolution during the twentieth century saw the development of a technical college and colleges of art and design.

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