- Aston University’s Main Building was inaugurated by the late Queen Elizabeth II on 3 November 1955
- A celebration with special guests included a lecture by Birmingham historian Professor Carl Chinn and the unveiling of the original bronze doors
- The event also saw the formal launch of the interdisciplinary Aston University Archives Centre.
Aston University has held an event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the inauguration of the Main Building by the late Queen Elizabeth II on 3 November 1955.
The event was hosted by Dr Ilaria Scaglia, senior lecturer in history and the head of Aston University Archives. She was joined by Jenny Loynton, Deputy Lieutenant of the West Midlands, the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Zafar Iqbal, and Professor Aleks Subic, Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University. Numerous Aston University alumni and current and former staff members also attended the event.
The Main Building, which had one of the largest steel structures in Europe at the time, was opened when Aston University was still the College of Technology, Commerce and Art. Members of the family of Rubery Owen, whose firm built the steel structure, attended the event and collaborated with Aston University Archives. On the Main Building’s opening day in 1955, the Queen unveiled a plaque and was given a tour of the new buildings and the laboratories. She also signed a document to mark the occasion with a Parker 51 pen.
This pen is preserved by the Aston University Archives, associated with the interdisciplinary Aston University Archives Centre, which was formally launched at the anniversary event. The Centre will document, preserve and share the history of Aston University and its predecessor institutions, as well as the research, teaching and other activities that have taken place. It will also serve as a forum for academics, practitioners, and members of the public to discuss the problem of archiving and preserving history in the 21st century.
The Archives hold a wide range of documents and artefacts going back to the very earliest days of the University as Birmingham Municipal Technical School, which was established in 1895. As well as the Queen’s pen, the archive includes photographs, student attendance records from the days of the technical college c1900, apprenticeship exam results from the 1920s, senate minutes, old trophies and models (some with funny tales, like an aluminium crown that was stolen by students from the University of Birmingham and retrieved in a daring nighttime raid by Aston University students), press clippings going back to 1895, bound copies of old student newspapers, and even the then-Vice-Chancellor’s laptop from 1989.
As well as being of historical importance, the Archive Centre is of crucial importance to teaching, as Aston University’s history degree has an archive focus. Having its own archive allows Aston’s history students to be hands-on with archive documents and artefacts and get practical training.
Birmingham historian Professor Carl Chinn was the guest of honour at the event and presented a fascinating lecture on the very origins of Aston University, which he traces back to Samuel Lines, a drawing teacher at Birmingham School of Art and Design in the early 1800s, who offered training to all classes of society, including women. This egalitarian spirit continued through the Birmingham and Midland Institute, which offered post-workday evening classes in scientific and technical education throughout the 1800s, something once only available to middle and upper classes. Birmingham Municipal Technical School, which evolved into Aston University, took over some of this training when it opened in 1891, with vocational training supporting Birmingham’s industries. Professor Chinn also presented photos and stories about the Gosta Green site, upon which the Aston University campus now sits, and the surroundings, including the back-to-back houses and buildings that once stood there.
One of the most striking elements of Aston University’s Main Building in 1955 was its sliding bronze doors, cast by the firm HH Martyn of Cheltenham, which also created various national monuments including Robert the Bruce at Bannockburn and Winston Churchill at the Guildhall in London. The doors depict skills, trades and manufacturing associated with Birmingham. When the building was expanded, three of the bronze doors were removed, and cut into 12 panels to be displayed as sculptures in their own right on campus. Eventually, they went into storage and were largely forgotten, with one door thought lost. After some research, the missing sliding door was ‘found’, intact and in situ in its wall cavity, by Aston University archivist James Platt, and will be closed and on display for special events at the University.
As part of the anniversary celebrations, the bronze panels have now been professionally restored. They have been installed in a new permanent display at the celebration event, right by the openings they originally covered. The unveiling was carried out by a number of people who have been instrumental in the maintenance of the Main Building, and the preservation of its history.
The bronze doors form part of the new Aston Heritage and Art Trail. The self-guided route around the campus takes in landmarks, artworks and stories that reveal Aston’s journey from its early foundations as a technical school to a leading modern university. Each stop is marked with a plaque explaining about the site and a scan point linking to more detail and the trail map online. Some of the points on the trail include Tipping Triangles, a kinetic water sculpture by Angela Conner, the original gateway to the campus from the 1950s, and the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI), which was once a cinema, then a BBC studio.
Dr Scaglia said:
“The Aston University Archives Centre includes specialists from diverse disciplines, from photonics to the business school, to pharmacy, and is meant to bring all together to safeguard our shared history. Without sources, history cannot be written. History and archiving are hard work and it’s important to do them together, across disciplines and together with the community.”
Professor Subic said:
“Since its opening on 3 November 1955, our Main Building has witnessed generations of students, staff and researchers passing through its doors, each contributing to Aston’s transformation from a local college to a global university driving innovation and socioeconomic impact in our city, region and beyond.
“Our history is not just about buildings – it’s about our people, about shared purpose, partnerships, and possibilities. As we celebrate 70 years of this landmark building, we reaffirm our commitment to Birmingham and to the future we are creating together, a future built on education, innovation, and community.”