University farm

The University at Manor Farm

from The Barwicker No.50
June 1998

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In 1891 the Yorkshire College decided to form a Department of Agriculture. This was on the recently acquired Beech Grove Estate, near Woodhouse Lane, an area which is now part of the present University of Leeds. At this time there were no suitable facilities available for any practical outdoor studies or experiments, although some visits were made to local farms. The solution was found, when in 1898, the East and West Riding County Councils took out a 30 year lease on Manor Farm, part of the Parlington Estates. Work was started immediately to improve the farm buildings, and in the first year Ł1261 was spent including Ł410 for a Dutch barn.
The farm consisted of approximately 300 acres, half of this being pasture, and half used as arable land. Some of the land adjoining the Educational Building, erected in 1901, was set out in plots. These plots were similar to those used for evening classes, in the area, and teachers were given instruction in their use.
The Educational Building itself was designed by Messrs. Smith and Tweedale, Architects in Leeds, and built by Pullans of Barwick. It was officially opened by The Earl Spencer, Chancellor of Victoria University on the 28th June 1901. A University booklet published in 1908 describes the building as follows:-"External elevations are simple in design and carried out in pressed brick with a few stone dressings".

Educational Buildings The interior of the building consisted of an entrance hall, lecture room and men students' sitting room. The upper floor, reached by a stone staircase, consisted of a classroom, laboratory, seed room, bacteriological room and a women students' sitting room. A side wing contained a fully equipped dairy, powered and lit by electricity. Glazed ivory tiles covered the walls, and the shelving was made of polished slate mounted on iron standards.
The College organised three main types of courses.

A general course which was often part-time, and did not result in any academic qualifications. These courses were sometimes run on a Saturday, and aimed at teachers who ran evening classes in the County.
A course for the National Diploma. A six week course in dairying was started in 1901 and continued up until 1927. This was an intensive course which covered dairy management, butter and cheese making. A total of 81 six week courses were organised and were attended by 565 students. They stayed at Stone Leigh on Wakefield Road, Garforth, as no accommodation was provided at the Farm. During the first world war, two week farming courses were organised for women.
A two year course for the B.Sc. Degree was offered and students attended outdoor sessions during both years. These comprised of 3 hours per week in the first and second terms, and 19 hours per week in the third term. Outdoor visits were made to various places including Manor Farm, during the first year. The first recorded visits to the Farm were made on the 10th February, and the 21st April 1898.

Numbers attending courses in 1897-1898 were as follows:-

The 2 Year's Course	8
Veterinary Lectures only	1
10 Week Winter Course	9
Poultry Course only	7
Saturday Horticultural Class	8
TOTAL	33

In addition to running courses, many experiments were carried out at the Farm. These included research into the influence of manures on the malting of barley, and their effect on plants in meadows, and also the chemical composition of butter. Livestock trials also took place and included cross-breeding of sheep and the rearing of calves. Trials were also carried out to compare the cost of harvesting potatoes using different mechanical means, all of which were horse drawn.

Plan of Manor Farm, Garforth, 1899.

A report on these trials was published in 1920, and showed that the Ransome Rotary Machine was the most cost effective. In all 71 reports were published and these were made available to interested parties upon application to the Agricultural Department.
In 1928, the lease expired on the Farm, and it was decided to look for a more suitable location away from the acidic atmosphere of the West Riding. The Farm was taken over by Mr. Anthony Dixon and was apparently in a rather dilapidated state by this time. Mr. Morritt occupied the Farm during the Second World War, and discovered samples of grain still present in some of the drawers. He continued to be tenant until 1971. The Educational Building was eventually demolished in 1970.
I would like to thank the Archives Department at the University of Leeds for their kind assistance, and for allowing the reproduction of the photograph and map.

Part Two of the article (published in The Barwicker 51) presents a detailed description of the staff employed by the Agricultural Department. GEOFF THORNTON

Note:

The Victoria University was a federation of the three Colleges of Manchester, Liverpool, and Leeds, before each was granted University status in its own right.

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A photograph of the farm's first tractor taken in about 1918.
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The University at Manor Farm

from The Barwicker No.50June 1998

from The Barwicker No.50
June 1998