28/04/2026
When my mum was a student she had a flat on the prom and then lectures in the Old College. Must have been incredible with a storm raging outside
The Old College 1870s.
The imposing structure that dominates Aberystwyth seafront, known today as the Old College, stands as a monument to Victorian ambition.. The restored and colourised photograph captures the building before the promenade was built.
The story of the site begins In 1795 when the celebrated architect John Nash—who would later design Buckingham Palace and the Brighton Pavilion—constructed a villa known as Castle House on the site. Commissioned by Sir Uvedale Price, a prominent writer.. For nearly seventy years, Castle House stood as a private residence.
The transformation of the site was driven by the railway boom of the mid-nineteenth century. Thomas Savin, a railway engineer and entrepreneur, had partnered with David Davies to build a network of railways across Wales. In 1864, Savin's Aberystwith and Welsh Coast Railway finally connected Aberystwyth and transformed the quiet town into a high-end tourist destination..
Savin purchased Castle House in 1864 with the intention of converting it into the Castle Hotel, a planned chain of luxury establishments along Cardigan Bay. He commissioned the architect John Pollard Seddon, a practitioner of the High Victorian Gothic style.
The construction of the Castle Hotel was an undertaking of intensity. It is said that a workforce of five hundred men laboured on the site, building at such speed that some architectural elements, such as the carriage porch, were reportedly improvised by the builders because formal plans could not keep pace with the construction. Savin's business model was equally innovative; he devised what was likely the first package holiday deal, offering railway tickets from English towns that included both the journey and full board at his new Aberystwyth hotel.
The Castle Hotel opened its doors in June 1865, despite being largely unfinished However, the grandeur was short-lived. In 1866, the collapse of the major London bank triggered a severe financial panic across Britain.. Savin, whose enterprises involved a total of approximately £1.5 million, was ruined. On 5 February 1866, he declared bankruptcy with debts exceeding £2 million, and the Castle Hotel was forced to close after barely a year of operation.
Yet, Savin's financial catastrophe provided an unexpected opportunity for the people of Wales. At the time, Wales lacked a university, and a dedicated committee had been formed to establish one. In March 1867, this committee purchased the derelict hotel for a mere £10,000—a fraction of what Savin had spent building it..
The committee retained John Pollard Seddon to adapt his hotel design into an educational institution, completing as much of the building as their limited finances allowed. On 16 October 1872, the University College of Wales opened its doors as the first university institution in Wales, welcoming just twenty-six students and three teaching staff to a building that remained unfinished..
The photograph captures the Old College during the early/mid period in the 1870s. Most notably, the image shows the college before the construction of the Aberystwyth promenade. The first section of the promenade, running from the college to the Queen's Hotel, was not built until the late 1870s, with the great sea wall around Castle Point following between 1901 to 1904..
