Living in a University Hall of Residence in 1950s England
Choosing a university
I went up to university in 1957. At that time, of course there was no internet and
all one had to go on to choose a university was its brochure and, if one was
lucky, the personal experience of someone already there. I chose Exeter
because I rather liked the Roman sounding name and because my school
headmistress had been adamant that part of the university experience was to
go so far away from home that one was effectively separated from it. To add
weight to the choice, Exeter agreed to accept me, subject to satisfactory A-levels, just on the basis of a photograph! Perhaps my
headmistress had to
send a reference. I don't know. Whatever, it was a pretty hit-and-miss
way of choosing of which I am not proud.
Universities varied in the 1950s, just as they do now. So my
experience at Exeter can't be counted as typical. Yet I suspect that
some aspects of it were not far from typical of the 1930s, ie before the
Second World War changed everything. In 1957, the country was set on recovery
after the short two-year degrees of the war years and the displacement of
British youth in the armed forces and then on
national service. (I
graduated, for example, a year ahead of my older cousin, simply because he,
being male, had been forced to do two years of national service before university.) With things back on track, there was
much new thinking but also many of the
pre-war norms remained in place.
My University halls of residence - Barton Place
I was placed in a University hall of residence which really was a
hangover of formal times. It was called Barton Place. While I was there, large purpose-built halls of residence started going up close to the
university, with single study bedrooms, and I believe, although I am not
sure, that they were also mixed sex. Barton Place could not have been more
different.
Barton Place, hall of Residence of the University of Exeter, 1957
Barton Place was a large and rambling old house in
an old country estate. Sheep and cows roamed around it and the views were of
patchwork quilts of hillside fields. It housed about 20 female students. I say 'about' because the pressure to
economise meant that additional students kept being squeezed in. I was
placed in a large room with two other room-mates. There was no quiet room,
although a room called the sickroom could very unreliably be used for study
if no-one was sick or staying as a guest.
The hall had a permanent live-in warden, Miss Callard, and a live-in
matron.
Barton Place, hall of Residence of the University of Exeter, 1957,
showing its rural setting.
The hall was some way out from the university and it was quite a cycle
ride to get in. The better-off students used the bus, but I came from a
family where economy was a way of life. Anyway, I rather enjoyed the cycle
rides as traffic was sparse.
Scattered around Exeter were other rather similar halls of residence in
their own large grounds. I believe that they were all bigger than Barton Place with
many more student residents. All were much nearer the university with the
exception of Crossmead, a male hall of residence on the other side of Exeter.
The Washington Singer Laboratories University of Exeter, 1957,
where I spent much of my time. It was widely known as 'the Block'.
The lack of somewhere reliable where I could work quietly was a big
problem for me. Clearly the university appreciated the difficulties, which was
why the new halls had been commissioned, but that was no help to me at the time. I was
told I could use the library on campus, but in view of the distance, that was
hardly somewhere to pop into of an evening.
I have frequently wished that I had arrived a couple of years later and been
able to have my own study bedroom. This remains true even though I have
struck up life-long friendships with my hall room-mates.
Shortly after I graduated, ie after the new purpose-built halls were in
operation, Barton Place closed as a hall of residence and became a postgraduate centre. The last time I was
there, it was an old people's home.
Heating in halls of residence bedrooms
Devon has a relatively mild climate, but in the winter it got cold. There
was no central heating in the bedrooms, only gas fires, and there was a firm
rule that no gas fire was to be turned on until the afternoon. The argument
was that we should all be out at lectures in the mornings, but clearly
economy came into it - and there were no lectures at the weekends. So every
winter morning we got up, washed and dressed in the cold. I wonder now why
there weren't major rebellions over it, but I suppose we were children of
the war years, who accepted discomfort.
The rule about heating added to my difficulties of finding anywhere quiet
to work.
Meals in the hall of residence
All meals were provided in the hall of residence: breakfast, lunch,
afternoon tea and supper/dinner. If students wished to miss a meal for any
reason, they had to 'sign out' in a special book. A kettle was available in
a corridor for making drinks with our own coffee or cocoa.
Twice a week, supper gave way to what was called 'formal dinner'. There
was a fine if one was late. I can't remember anyone ever being late or
indeed anyone ever refusing to pay any of the various fines.
For the formal dinners, everyone had to wear their gowns. (These were
undergraduate gowns; there were different ones for graduates.) We all
congregated in the large and elegant common room which boasted William
Morris wallpaper on the walls. Then when a bell was rung, we all trouped
into the small dining room. The warden
scanned us all to check that we were wearing our gowns, and we all stood for
grace which she said. We were served by the kitchen staff. Once everyone had
finished, the warden and matron stood up. We stood up too. Then the warden
led us back into the common room where coffee was served.
In many ways, the experience of the formality was good for me, although it was a glimpse into times
past rather than a preparation for the future. I learnt, for example, to use a
specially shaped spoon for my soup, to scoop the soup away from me rather
than towards me and that any tipping of the plate had to be away from me. I
must have learnt much more, but as it became second nature, I can't remember
the details. I do know that I was the only student in my year in hall who came
from a state grammar school rather than a fee-paying school, and at times, I was
made to feel it.
Entertaining
Strictly no males were allowed up any of the staircases. Entertaining had
to be in the common room. There was no privacy.
Staying out late
The warden clearly felt that it was her duty to keep us on the straight
and narrow, and indeed legally at that time, we were not classed as adults
before the age of 21.
So there was a rule that everyone had to be back in hall by 11pm. The
lights in the porch would flash two minutes before as a warning. Then the
couples dotted around the porch would separate and we residents would all troupe
inside. (Clearly the male undergraduates didn't have such stringent
requirements, as they would have got back considerably later.) After 11pm the door was locked. Occasionally there was talk about
girls climbing in late through windows, but I can't
confirm it. The official line was that the front door bell had to be rung and when the
warden answered it she would allocate fines according to how late one was.
If there was a good reason for staying out after 11pm, the procedure was
to apply to the warden for what was called a 'late exeat', but we were
normally only allowed two per term. I suppose that late exeats meant the
warden staying up late to let the latecomers in.
Managing money as a student
One way in which our lives as university students were so much easier
than those of students today was in managing money. The only money that I
ever handled was what my parents gave me for pocket money.
Local authorities were generous in those days, but perhaps they could
afford to be because only 2% of the population went to university. There was
some sort of sliding scale according to how much parents earned, but I never
knew much about it. As far as I was concerned, I never had to arrange or
handle fees for my hall or residence or my course. My parents bought my set
books in vacations. No one had to leave university with a debt.
