Rochdale School of Art

A Technical School was opened in 1893, and by 1906 it had encompassed a School of Art. It was located on a sloping site in an area known as The Gank. The slope was so severe that the building had entrances on at least three levels on different streets. It was built at a then cost of £12,000 which today would be the equivalent of nearly £2 million. In 1900 the appointment of Henry Barrett Carpenter as principal of the school saw a definite upturn in its fortunes. The building continued to be used for art instruction throughout the first half of the twentieth century, but it was when Leopold Solomon was appointed as Principal in 1953 that it truly flourished, growing from just eight enrolled students to 190 full-time and 550 part-time students in just a decade. There were also twenty-six teaching staff instructing in disciplines ranging from fine art, sculpture, printmaking, typography and silversmithing.

In March 1969 disastrous fire wrecked the building and costly repairs ensued. In the interim, the art facilities relocated to a nearby site later to be known as Hopwood Hall College. The original building closed in 1989 and was later demolished. Today it functions as a car park the only remaining evidence of the art school is a terracotta frieze, depicting spinning and metalworking situated where the School once stood. Alumni and teachers include Glynn Boyd Harte, Harold Dearden, Brian Woods and Jack Crabtree.

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