Old College Aberystwyth

This building is so beautifully made it is a sin not to visit it once you made it to Aberystwyth. We got blown in by the strong wind that day, and where totatly in love with it, in minutes. This is truly amazing, inside out.

University of Aberystwyth Old College
A real-life Professor Snape once taught in this Welsh university building, which students of course nicknamed “Hogwarts.” University of Aberystwyth Old College
A real-life Professor Snape once taught in this Welsh university building, which students of course nicknamed “Hogwarts.” By 1865, Aberystwyth had a new railway line bringing tourists in from the English Midlands. Entrepreneur Thomas Savin hired a gothic revival architect named John Seddon to turn the elaborate house into an even more elaborate hotel by building gothic extensions along the sea wall and furnishing it with turrets, crenellations, fake arrow slits, and ecclesiastical vaulted ceilings.

Unfortunately, a year into its construction, a grave recession left whimsical hotels in distant seaside resorts way down the list of Victorian priorities. Savin became bankrupt and the unfinished “Castle House Hotel” began to fall into ruin.

As luck would have it, at that time, a committee of London-based Welshmen were planning to start a university in Wales, the first to offer degrees in the Welsh language. The existence of an intriguing yet rotting hotel on the seafront of Aberystwyth caught their attention. The building certainly had the necessary architectural grandeur they craved to rival the ancient English colleges at Oxford and Cambridge. The consortium quickly agreed the failed hotel would make a fitting home for the new educational institution. They parted with £10,000 pounds for the decaying gothic shell and hired Seddon to once again work on the building and repurpose it into the most senior academic institution in Wales.

The University of Wales (which is known today as Aberystwyth University) began teaching in the building in 1872. Unfortunately, shortly afterward in 1885, a terrible fire broke out in the chemistry laboratory which killed three people and gutted the fledgling university campus. Seddon stepped into the breach again and took the opportunity to completely remodel the whole north wing in a slightly different style, finally giving the building the bizarre, anarchic fantasy appearance it retains today.

Not long after the fire, the college’s old chemistry professor died and was replaced by a new master of “potions,” one Professor Snape. This real Professor Snape, whose first name was Henry and not Severus, died in 1933. He was described as energetic, keen, and devoted in his obituary.

The Old College ceased to be the main focus of the university when a large new campus was constructed just on the edge of town in the 1960s. It continued to be the university’s administrative headquarters until relatively recently. It’s now destined to become the new postgraduate center.

Know Before You Go
The Old College is hard to miss as it dominates the town. The main entrance is on King Street, but it is worth taking in the whole building by walking along New Promenade and Pier Street. There is also a good view of the Old College from the ruined castle and war memorial grounds. The Old College, like much of Aberystwyth, is only a short walk from the train station.

POSTCODE CHANGED DON'T TRUST YOUR SAT NAV OR POST ANYTHING USING THE THE SY23 2AX POSTCODE! The Old College has had the SY23 2AX postcode for decades however somebody at the University got the Royal Mail to change it to SY23 2BH. The Old College is changing it's use from a university building to a community and office space. I've an office here an it's a pain. Post does not arrive at the Old College using the above postcode. The SY23 2AX postcode on many sat navs takes you to the Royal Mail Depot on the industrial estate outside of town as the Uni uses it as a redirect of all it's post. I've tried to amend the address on Google but Google won't change it. Postcodes are made up via Royal Mail and they aren't communicating. The current address in Welsh and English if you want any post using Royal Mail to get there.

Yr Hen Goleg,
Stryd Y Brenin,
Aberystwyth,
SY23 2BH

The Old College
King Street
Aberystwyth
SY23 2BH

The telephone number is incorrect - it is for Uni timetabling not the old college

Beautiful building with impressive list of graduates! Define Aberystwyth skyline and it is main landmark.
Can't wait to visit town again and catch the chance to see interiors!

Lovely building, I will be glad to see it after its refurbishment.

Beautiful architecture! Aberystwyth’s most iconic building

Great outdoor experience, but in refurbishing state. Reopening in 2023.