Cathedral Quarter

University of Lincoln Locations

Riseholme Park

Riseholme has had a place in history for hundreds of years. There are signs of Roman and early English settlements and the remains of a medieval village, parts of which have been excavated. Some of the earliest records of the parish are in the Doomsday Book 1086AD, which mentions three Saxon owners. In the Middle Ages parts of it belonged to the abbeys of Barlings and Kirkstead. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who married Mary, sister of Henry VIII, held it.

History of Riseholme Park

The Chaplin family, who purchased the estate in 1721, completed Riseholme Hall in 1744. They subsequently sold it to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners in1840 and it became the Palace of the Bishop of Lincoln. William Railton (the architect of Nelson's Column) remodelled the Hall in the mid part of the 19th century. He designed the 86 foot long colonnade built on the south side of the Hall, and the carriage vestibule on the north side, next to the principal door. He also added the balustrade around the upper storey, the impressive staircase of fossilized Jurassic limestone (from the Cathedral Quarry, Lincoln) and the lantern in the main entrance.

The Bishop of the time, John Kaye, built the present parish church at his own expense and he is buried in the churchyard along with Christopher Wordsworth, nephew of the immortal poet. Bishops continued to live at the Hall until 1887, when Bishop Edward King moved to the Old Palace in Lincoln. The estate was then sold and ultimately passed, in 1890, to Captain Thomas Wilson. His son sold the estate to Lindsey County Council for the sum of £24000, for the purpose of establishing a farm institute.

The Education Committee approved the purchase of the estate, comprising some 569 acres in 1946. It was then sanctioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, which was responsible for agricultural education at the time. It was agreed that the estate should be used for the training of ex-servicemen and be run by the County War Agricultural Executive Committee.

Finding farm institute places for students from the Lindsey area was difficult, so in July 1948 the Education Committee asked the Ministry of Agriculture to terminate their lease, so that the estate could be used for the purpose originally intended. After some negotiations, the transfer was finally arranged to take effect on 1 October 1949. Riseholme Farm Institute was born, it later became known as Lindsey Farm Institute and then in 1966 the Lindsey College of Agriculture.

When the Farm Institute was founded students lived in two hostels, one at Riseholme Grange and the other in Riseholme Hall itself. As the Institute grew an expansion programme was required. A new hostel to accommodate 50 students was opened in 1961 and a further hostel opened in 1970, with 40 single study bedrooms. In 1980, following a merger of the three county divisions in Lincolnshire, Lindsey College of Agriculture, Kesteven Agricultural College and the Holbeach Agricultural Centre merged to become Lincolnshire College of Agriculture and Horticulture.

In 1987 Riseholme Hall, by now a listed building was rededicated by the then current Bishop of Lincoln, Robert Hardy. The occasion marked the completion of a very comprehensive refurbishment programme of the Hall. During 1994 Riseholme, along with the rest of the College merged with De Montfort University to become its School of Agriculture. In October 2001, the Lincolnshire School of Agriculture transferred to the University of Lincoln. September 2002 marked the closure of the Caythorpe Campus and the relocation of all its courses to Riseholme. This has entailed building the Rural Science Centre, which was completed in 2002.

Throughout 2005-07 extensive development of the campus provided a new indoor riding arena and a small animal centre. In 2007 The Lincolnshire School of Agriculture was renamed Riseholme College.