Visited solo in January 2019 over 2 visits as it is quite a large complex.

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The building was originally founded as a college in 1881 and gained its royal charter in 1903 with the ability to award degrees and is also known to be one of the six original "red brick" civic universities.

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The red brick buildings which were constructed in the early 1900s, originally zoology and botany then in later years included included  engineering, geology, archaeology, biology and classics.

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Additional buildings were added in the 1980s and were home to several different departments.

 

An additional annex was added in the mid-1980’s, as the university continued to expand. Most recently the buildings housed the archaeology, classics and egyptology departments, as well as part of the biology and engineering departments.

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The building is currently undergoing renovation which meant care had to be taken to avoid the attention of the workmen on the site during my visits. Inside the building has decayed somewhat as it has been unused since it closed for students in around 2008 although the power is still on throughout the building. 

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Personal items from former students can still be found in some of the laboratories and classrooms including artwork and photographic collages.