Top 10 beautiful historic universities in the UK

Traveling further north from Durham, the University of Glasgow is known as one of the four “ancient universities of Scotland”, alongside Aberdeen, Edinburgh and St Andrews. It is part of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities and was a leading centre of the Scottish Enlightenment.

The university was established in 1451 and moved to its current site in 1870, with a stunning main building designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1886.

Established in 1879, Royal Holloway became a constituent member of the University of London in 1900, and is based just outside of the UK capital, in Surrey. Its striking gothic-revival-style Founder’s Building, completed in 1881, was designed by William Henry Crossland and inspired by the Château de Chambord in the Loire Valley, France.

It remains one of the most impressive university structures in the UK today, and has been used in a number of films and TV programs, recently including the popular Downton Abbey. 

Queen’s University of Belfast was founded in 1849, with roots in the earlier Royal Belfast Academical Institution, which was founded in 1810 and is considered one of the UK’s 10 oldest universities.

The centerpiece of its campus is the red-brick gothic Lanyon Building, which opened in 1849 and is named after its architect, Charles Lanyon.

Another of Scotland’s four ancient universities, the University of Edinburgh was founded in 1583.

The university’s iconic Georgian Old College building was originally designed in 1789 but took several decades to fund and build, with the eye-catching dome finally added in 1887. It currently houses the University of Edinburgh’s School of Law, administrative offices and contemporary art exhibitions in the Talbot Rice Gallery.

Scotland’s oldest university and the third oldest in the UK, the University of St Andrews was established around 1410-1413 AD. Some of the university’s buildings, including St Salvator's Chapel, St Leonard's College Chapel and St Mary's College, date back to the 15^th century, and are still in use.

Completing the four great ancient Scottish universities, the University of Aberdeen was established in 1495.

The university’s iconic buildings, including Marischal College and King's College in Old Aberdeen, serve as widely recognized symbols of Aberdeen, which is far in the north of the UK on the east coast of Scotland, and the city’s rich academic heritage. The university has many notable alumni, including five Nobel laureates.

Aberystwyth University in Wales completes the list of the most beautiful historic universities in the UK. Founded in 1872, it’s one of the nation’s oldest higher education institutions. It lays claim to having established the world’s first official department for international politics, which was founded in 1919 in the wake of World War I.

The university’s Old College building resembles a medieval castle and serves as the main site for most of Aberystwyth University’s administration, plus the departments of Welsh and education. 

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