The history…
This building dates back to the early 1960s, when three small colleges: the College of Commerce, the College of Building and the Elms College, occupied this site. In 1977 after successive mergers, the colleges amalgamated to become the Cauldon College of Further Education. Cauldon College provided many applied courses, such as Hair & Beauty, Quantity Surveying and Sign Writing, all of which at sometime were taught in this building.
In 1991, Cauldon College was absorbed into the wider Stoke on Trent College, which we see today.
The Cauldon Campus site, flanked by the Cauldon Canal, has seen considerable redevelopment in recent years, including a £12million learning and support hub, which stands in close proximity to our explore.
To my knowledge, our explore has stood empty for a couple of years at least and a quick internet search reveals it is also earmarked for redevelopment. Planning permission was approved in May 2018 for the construction of multi-storey buildings,to accommodate 939 student apartments.
The explore…
My first attempt at exploring this building was cut short when I encountered two fellas stealing a micro wave oven (there’s a song in this I think). This appeared to be quite difficult for them as they struggled with physical co-ordination and focus. I decided it would be best to return on another day with a friend.
My second attempt was much better and a quick walk round the building revealed a fairly easy entry, whilst being mindful that the nearby college buildings were in use.
The main building comprises 3 floors all of which have classrooms on either side of a long corridor.
The ground floor is largely boarded so there is very little natural light.
There is a stairwell at the end of each building.
The building is pretty well trashed and there’s loads of broken glass about but very little graffiti. There is also evidence of two or three small fires which surprisingly didn’t spread that far.
Most of the classrooms have been stripped of furniture but there’s still some interesting posters and student works pinned on the walls, including a poignant ’thanks for the memories’ picture of student’s taking part in activities.
A couple of the rooms retain fittings and there’s one that was clearly used for catering or cookery.
It’s also clear that homeless people have been sleeping in the building.
This building dates back to the early 1960s, when three small colleges: the College of Commerce, the College of Building and the Elms College, occupied this site. In 1977 after successive mergers, the colleges amalgamated to become the Cauldon College of Further Education. Cauldon College provided many applied courses, such as Hair & Beauty, Quantity Surveying and Sign Writing, all of which at sometime were taught in this building.
In 1991, Cauldon College was absorbed into the wider Stoke on Trent College, which we see today.
The Cauldon Campus site, flanked by the Cauldon Canal, has seen considerable redevelopment in recent years, including a £12million learning and support hub, which stands in close proximity to our explore.
To my knowledge, our explore has stood empty for a couple of years at least and a quick internet search reveals it is also earmarked for redevelopment. Planning permission was approved in May 2018 for the construction of multi-storey buildings,to accommodate 939 student apartments.
The explore…
My first attempt at exploring this building was cut short when I encountered two fellas stealing a micro wave oven (there’s a song in this I think). This appeared to be quite difficult for them as they struggled with physical co-ordination and focus. I decided it would be best to return on another day with a friend.
My second attempt was much better and a quick walk round the building revealed a fairly easy entry, whilst being mindful that the nearby college buildings were in use.
The main building comprises 3 floors all of which have classrooms on either side of a long corridor.
The ground floor is largely boarded so there is very little natural light.
There is a stairwell at the end of each building.
The building is pretty well trashed and there’s loads of broken glass about but very little graffiti. There is also evidence of two or three small fires which surprisingly didn’t spread that far.
Most of the classrooms have been stripped of furniture but there’s still some interesting posters and student works pinned on the walls, including a poignant ’thanks for the memories’ picture of student’s taking part in activities.
A couple of the rooms retain fittings and there’s one that was clearly used for catering or cookery.
It’s also clear that homeless people have been sleeping in the building.
