Origins of The Term
The term "red brick" or "redbrick" was first coined by a professor of Spanish (Edgar Allison Peers) at the University of Liverpool to describe these civic universities (under the pseudonym "Bruce Truscot" in his 1943 book Redbrick University). His reference was inspired by the fact that The Victoria Building at the University of Liverpool (which was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and completed in 1892) is built from a distinctive red pressed brick, with terracotta decorative dressings. Alfred Waterhouse also designed The Great Hall of the University of Leeds before the project at the University of Liverpool, however this was completed two years after the Victoria Building.
On this basis the University of Liverpool considers itself to be the original Red Brick institution. The University of Birmingham states, however, that it was the first to gain official university status, and that the popularity of the term owes to its own domed Accrington brick buildings, despite the fact that Liverpool's Victoria Building was built 13 years prior to Birmingham's Aston Webb building.
Read more about this topic: Red Brick University
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