Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
No apologies for the length of this video, there is so much to see.
Cotton College, formerly known as Saint Wilfrid’s College, was a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cotton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
The school’s buildings were centred around Cotton Hall, a country house used by religious communities since the 1840s. The school moved to Cotton Hall in 1873 and remained there until its closure in 1987. Today, the site is derelict, but both the school and its chapel, St Wilfrid’s Church, are Grade II listed buildings.
Cotton Hall, believed to date back to 1630, was likely built by the Morrice family. In the 18th century, Thomas Gilbert rebuilt the house. In 1843, Cotton Hall was sold to the Earl of Shrewsbury, a prominent Roman Catholic who resided at Alton Towers nearby. He offered the building to a religious community led by Frederick William Faber.
The house underwent extensions in 1846-1848 for the religious community’s use. This expansion allowed them to establish a village school and attempt to convert local residents to Roman Catholicism. The Earl provided financial backing for the building work, appointing Augustus Pugin as the architect. Pugin, renowned for his collaboration with Charles Barry on the Houses of Parliament, designed the chapel in Gothic Revival style.
After the boarding school relocated to Cotton, the building underwent further extensions in 1874-1875, 1886-1887, and 1931-1932.
Pugin’s design for St Wilfrid’s Church incorporated a single-storey passage building linking the main building to the chapel. The chapel features a south-west tower with a broach spire. Despite the closure of the school, St Wilfrid’s Church remained intact, although regular services are no longer held there.
No apologies for the length of this video, there is so much to see.
Cotton College, formerly known as Saint Wilfrid’s College, was a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cotton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
The school’s buildings were centred around Cotton Hall, a country house used by religious communities since the 1840s. The school moved to Cotton Hall in 1873 and remained there until its closure in 1987. Today, the site is derelict, but both the school and its chapel, St Wilfrid’s Church, are Grade II listed buildings.
Cotton Hall, believed to date back to 1630, was likely built by the Morrice family. In the 18th century, Thomas Gilbert rebuilt the house. In 1843, Cotton Hall was sold to the Earl of Shrewsbury, a prominent Roman Catholic who resided at Alton Towers nearby. He offered the building to a religious community led by Frederick William Faber.
The house underwent extensions in 1846-1848 for the religious community’s use. This expansion allowed them to establish a village school and attempt to convert local residents to Roman Catholicism. The Earl provided financial backing for the building work, appointing Augustus Pugin as the architect. Pugin, renowned for his collaboration with Charles Barry on the Houses of Parliament, designed the chapel in Gothic Revival style.
After the boarding school relocated to Cotton, the building underwent further extensions in 1874-1875, 1886-1887, and 1931-1932.
Pugin’s design for St Wilfrid’s Church incorporated a single-storey passage building linking the main building to the chapel. The chapel features a south-west tower with a broach spire. Despite the closure of the school, St Wilfrid’s Church remained intact, although regular services are no longer held there.
