About us
Liverpool Hope University is the only university foundation in Europe (and the USA) where Catholic and Anglican colleges have come together to form an integrated, ecumenical, Christian foundation. In 2019 we celebrated 175 years since the founding of our first college in 1844; in that year there were only six universities in England (two of them medieval), none of which admitted women, Catholics or Jews. The founding colleges of Liverpool Hope University were among the first few institutions to begin opening up higher education to the vast majority of England’s population.
The three founding colleges, S. Katharine’s, formerly Warrington Training College (1844) (Anglican), Sisters of Notre Dame Training College (1856) and Christ’s College (1964) (both Catholic) came together and adopted the name ‘Hope’ from Hope Street, that links both cathedrals, to form a fully integrated academic collegium in Liverpool. This was largely due to the presence in the 1980s of two remarkable church leaders working together in the context of northern Irish religious sectarianism: Bishop David Sheppard, the Bishop of the Anglican Diocese, and Archbishop Derek Worlock, the Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese that extends from Liverpool across the north of England.
Liverpool Hope University’s Archives and Special Collections is the repository for the print and visual history of the institution from its foundation. We also care for, and make available unique and distinctive collections in support of the learning, teaching and research activities of the university, and provide an essential role in supporting the university’s mission and values.
Access
When archives are deposited into our collections, we aim to create a standard collection-level description to make the material discoverable to researchers, until a full-content listing can be catalogued, which can take a considerable amount of time depending on the size and complexity of the collection. Archives can include a variety of media including handwritten or typed documents, photographs, film and sound recordings, scrapbooks, or even artefacts. With this in mind, the collection-level description, at least allows the material to be accessible for viewing by appointment only in our Reading Room. The archives are preserved in archival-quality files and folders, and stored in our environmentally-controlled vault.
Archives and Special Collections is based in The Sheppard-Worlock Library at Hope Park Campus (no.34 on the map). We are open Monday – Friday 9.30am – 16.30pm. Please note that all archive appointments must be pre-booked.
Email: specialcollections@hope.ac.uk
Tel: 0151 291 2027
Archive Catalogue
The Archive and Digital Collections Catalogue is a work in progress and reflects only a small portion of our complete holdings. For more information about the collections we hold please see our A-Z of Collections.
Digital Collections
Not all our archives are digitised. There are many reasons why some archives are not readily available to view online, from data protection considerations to issues of preservation. For further information please visit restricted access on the website.
Donations
We are seeking to fill the gaps of our university’s history and keen to hear from our alumni about any photographs, films, correspondence, magazines or any other memorabilia that may portray student life in the days of our founding colleges. We would love to hear from you, however, we’re unable to accept duplications so please take the time to check the catalogue of our existing holdings on the Archive and Digital Collections Catalogue before getting in contact. To get in touch please email, specialcollections@hope.ac.uk.
Archives and Special Collections also includes material that supports and enhances the teaching and research interests of the university. For guidance please refer to the A&SC Collection Development and Management Policy.
For further information and to find out more about the donation options available to you please get in touch.