Needler Hall
| Needler Hall | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Type | Hall of residence |
| Location | Northgate, Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Coordinates | 53°47′04″N 0°24′53″W / 53.784495°N 0.414845°WCoordinates: 53°47′04″N 0°24′53″W / 53.784495°N 0.414845°W |
| Completed | 18th century (as private house) |
| Owner | University of Hull |
Needler Hall is a hall of residence of the University of Hull, located on Northgate in Cottingham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Originally a large private house built in the 18th century, it was acquired, along with Thwaite Hall, by the newly established university college in 1928. It is named in honour of Frederick Needler, of Needler's (a Hull-based sweets manufacturer), who was a major benefactor of the university college.
History and description
The oldest part of Needler Hall was formerly known as Northfields House and was built soon after 1780, it was extended with the construction of a south-facing wing around 1820.[1] The house served as a private asylum for the insane in the early nineteenth century.[2] It was a stuccoed building, decorated with pilasters and wreathes, and it had a Tuscan porch. A columned south-facing porch was demolished in the early 1980s after becoming structurally unsafe. Soon after being acquired by the then university college a two storey range of student accommodation, now known as the "Old Wing," was constructed running south-westward from the original building. Constructed in brick and rendered brick, it has a pitched slate roof.[3] Following this extension the hall could accommodate 60 students. In 1962–64 the architect Trevor Dannatt RA added a new range of accommodation plus a refectory and kitchens to the residence. Known as the "New Wing," it is not physically connected to the earlier buildings; it is largely of brick construction with flat roofs, and the windows are sunk in vertical channels with concrete sills and lintels.[4] The original house was for most of its life stuccoed and painted white, however, it was hacked back to bare brick and stone in the 1990s.
When created as a hall of residence, and for many years following, Needler Hall was a male-only residence, in the 1950s female visitors were only permitted between 4 and 9 pm at weekends.[5] It is now open to both genders.
As of 2012, it accommodates 167 students in single rooms with some meals provided, and includes: two common rooms with TV, games room, music practice rooms, a study room and senior common room. Needler Hall has considerable lawned grounds, including tennis courts.[6]
The university announced, in January 2015, the sale of the Needler Hall site for redevelopment, it will continue in its present function until summer 2016.[7]
Literary connections
The poet, presenter and member of the Scaffold, Roger McGough was resident in the hall for three years from 1955; he took a degree in French and Geography and served as hall librarian. Contemporaneously, the poet Philip Larkin became the university's librarian; newly arrived at Hull, he served as a sub-warden at Needler Hall until he found private accommodation. When Larkin was required to say a grace before a formal meal in the hall, he reduced it to two terse words, albeit in Latin. In comparison to some of the other university accommodation McGough described Needler as a "Four star hotel."[8] Larkin himself referred to his continued dining at Needler, following his move to other accommodation nearby, in a postcard written on 21 February 1956.[9]
Larkin returned to the hall in 1961, where he recuperated after being hospitalised. He had collapsed during a meeting of the committee responsible for overseeing the university library.[10] Peter Coveney, the hall warden, looked after Larkin who was eventually diagnosed with a form of late-onset epilepsy.[11]
Notable former residents
- Philip Larkin, British poet and librarian
- Roger McGough, British poet and performance poet
- Kevin McNamara, British politician.[12]
- Bereket Selassie, Eritrean/Ethiopian politician, lawyer and academic.[13]
References
- ↑ Bamford, p. 54.
- ↑ Settlement Profile of Cottingham, a planning document of East Riding of Yorkshire Council (07/11/2008)
- ↑ Bamford, p. 54.
- ↑ Neave, p. 389.
- ↑ McGough, p. 78.
- ↑ "Needler Hall". University of Hull. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
- ↑ "Development Opportunity: Needler Hall, Cottingham for sale". PAI. January 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ↑ McGough, pp. 78–81.
- ↑ Larkin: Letters to Monica
- ↑ Philip Larkin, Jean Hartley and Jim Orwin, Philip Larkin: The Right Line. Poetry, Vol. 192, No. 5 (September 2008), pp. 465, 467–480. Poetry Foundation.
- ↑ Larkin: Letters to Monica p. 4
- ↑ Bowen, p. 19
- ↑ Selassie, pp. 98–99
Bibliography
- Bamford, T. W., (1978) The University of Hull: the first fifty years. Published for the University of Hull by Oxford University Press.
- Bowen, P. (2008) A Gallery to Play To: The Story of the Mersey Poets, Liverpool University Press.
- Larkin, P., (2012) Letters to Monica, Faber & Faber.
- McGough, R., (2010) Said And Done, Random House.
- Neave, D., (1995) Yorkshire: York and the East Riding, Second edition. Yale University Press. ISBN 0 300 09593 7
- Selassie, B. H., (2007) The crown and the pen: the memoirs of a lawyer turned rebel, The Red Sea Press.