Margaret Street

Margaret Street is the home of the School now Department of Art and is the oldest part of the university both literally and figuratively. The roots of the School of Art date back to 1843 and the Birmingham Government School of Art. Margaret Street the campus dates from 1885 with further building taking place later in the 19th century.

Over time the School of Art outgrew the building and spread to Gosta Green but remained at Margaret Street too and it remains a campus of the university to this day. There were moves to try and close the campus down when the university began its policy of rationalising the number of campuses it was at but not Margaret Street seems to have survived which is good news (especially as the building had only just been extensively renovated only a few years before).

Margaret Street dating from 1885 of course means it celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. On the microsite for this event you can read some history of this campus and see some good historical photos.

Peter Knight manages to find a window cleaner