Yale College Wrexham encyclopedia topics

History

The history of Yale College can be summarised in three phases: Yale Grammar School, Yale Sixth Form, and Yale College. Like many local services, it is named after Elihu Yale, best known for being the prime benefactor of Yale University. It was founded in 1950 as a state school on a site at Crispin Lane. In 1973, as part of the conversion of local schools to the comprehensive system, it was renamed as Yale Sixth Form College and the pupils re-located to other schools.

In 1995, work began on Yale's new campus which consisted of a mix of older and very modern, airy buildings in Wrexham town centre. Prior to dereliction, some of the buildings on the campus previously hosted Wrexham & East Denbighshire War Memorial Hospital up until the late 1980s, and another dating back to 1902 was previously Grove Park School, which again closed in the 1980s. Out of the many buildings on the site, two of the largest were selected for refurbishment, and along with the newer buildings, the campus finally opened in 1998, known as the Grove Park campus which handles various qualifications including GCSEs, National Diplomas and A levels.

In 1999, Yale University sued Wrexham County Borough Council over the use of the name Yale College (which had been the name of Yale University's undergraduate college for 225 years before Yale Wrexham was founded). As a result of the settlement of the trademark infringement suit, the Yale College in Wales must always be legally referred to as Yale College of Wrexham, Wales or Yale College Wrexham.

Yale also possesses property in Bersham Road, Wrexham, which handles the more vocational subjects such as plumbing and [[bricklaying], this recently underwent an extensive redevelopment. Up until 2006, the college also possessed additional capacity in Roxburgh House, Wrexham, however the majority of the building was handed back to the vendor due to lease expiration. Previously the building handled apprenticeships and training courses.

Culture

Yale College is, officially, a bilingual college, helping to foster Anglo-Welsh relations, although the predominant language spoken is English. The college magazine and accompanying website, ZED, helps keep students abreast of local opinions, with editorials and news releases.