{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2015}} {{Use British English|date=May 2015}} {{Infobox building | name = Aberdare Hall | native_name = | former_names = | alternate_names = | image = Aberdare Hall, Cardiff University.JPG | image_size = 275px | alt = | caption = Aberdare Hall | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_alt = | map_caption = | altitude = | building_type = [[Student residence]] | architectural_style = [[Gothic Revival]] | structural_system = | cost = | client = | owner = [[Cardiff University]] | current_tenants = | landlord = | location = | address = | location_town = [[Cardiff]] | location_country = {{flagicon|Wales}} [[Wales]] | coordinates = {{coord|51.489|-3.184|region:GB|display=inline,title}} | completion_date = 1895 | inauguration_date = | renovation_date = | demolished_date = | destruction_date = | height = | diameter = | floor_count = | floor_area = | main_contractor = | architect = [[W. D. Caröe]] | architecture_firm = | structural_engineer = | services_engineer = | civil_engineer = | awards = | website = [http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/for/prospective/accommodation/residences/aberdare-hall.html Aberdare Hall] | references = }}
'''Aberdare Hall''' ({{langx|cy|Neuadd Aberdâr}}) is a Grade II-listed [[Gothic Revival]] [[hall of residence]] at [[Cardiff University]] in [[Wales]]. It was built at the end of the nineteenth century.
==History== [[File:Aberdare Hall Plaque.jpg|thumb|Commemorative plaque above main entrance]]
Aberdare Hall was established in 1883 by the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire (later University College, Cardiff, now [[Cardiff University]]) as a residence for female students. Its foundation was due to the efforts of Lady Aberdare (1827–1897)<ref name=pres>Evans, W. (2004-09-23). Bruce, Alice Moore (1867–1951), educationist. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 2 Feb. 2018, See [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-51854 link]</ref> (the wife of [[Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare]]) and [[John Viriamu Jones]] (1856–1909), the principal of the University College. There were few opportunities for women's [[higher education]] in Britain at the time.<ref name="Archives Wales">{{cite web|title=Aberdare Hall, Cardiff University records|url=http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=33&coll_id=2392&expand=|publisher=Archives Wales|accessdate=29 May 2014|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303231833/http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?inst_id=33&coll_id=2392&expand=|archivedate=3 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
The first building was Keswick House in Richmond Road, which opened in 1885 with nine students.<ref name="Archives Wales"/> The principals at this time included [[Ethel Hurlbatt]]. The current building was built 1893–1895 and was designed in the Gothic revival style in brick and [[terracotta]] by [[W. D. Caröe]].<ref name="Archives Wales"/> Ethel Hurlbatt became the principal of [[Bedford College, London|Bedford College in the University of London]] in 1898. The next principal was [[Kate Hurlbatt]] who was Ethel's younger sister. She served for more than thirty more years until she retired in 1934.<ref>{{cite ODNB|title=Ethel Hurlbatt|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/48440|year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/48440 |accessdate=28 December 2011 |last1=Badham |first1=Sophie }}</ref>
The original Corbett Road facade was asymmetic and a third gable was added after 1908 to make it symmetrical. More additions were made to the rear of the building in the early twentieth century.<ref>{{cite web|title=Aberdare Hall including attached NE wing at rear - Castle - Cardiff - Wales|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/wa-13678-aberdare-hall-including-attached-ne-wing-|website=www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk|publisher=British Listed Buildings|accessdate=2 May 2016}}</ref> The library wing to the north-east designed by [[Verner Owen Rees|Verner O. Rees]] was built in 1939–40, and the garden wing designed by Verner Rees, Laurence and Mitchell in 1963.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Newman|first1=John|authorlink=John Newman (architectural historian)|title=The Buildings of Wales – Glamorgan|date=1995|publisher=Penguin / University of Wales Press|location=London|isbn=0-14-071056-6|page=237}}</ref> [[Alice Bruce]] who was the daughter of the founder and a leading educationalist was the President of the hall from 1929 to 1936.<ref name=pres/>
==Location== Aberdare Hall is in Corbett Road in [[Cathays Park]], near to the [[Cathays]] district of Cardiff. It is the closest hall of residence to the main university buildings.<ref name=AHCRS>{{cite web|title=About Aberdare Hall|url=http://aberdarehallcrs.tripod.com/id9.html|publisher=Aberdare Hall Common Room Society|accessdate=2 May 2016}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commonscat}} *[http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/ Cardiff University Official Website] *[http://aberdarehallcrs.tripod.com/ Aberdare Hall Common Room Society]
[[Category:Cathays]] [[Category:Halls of residence in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Cardiff University]] [[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Cardiff]]