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{{Short description|Former teacher training college in Bangor, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
[[File:Bangor Normal College, for training Teachers for British Schools.jpeg|thumb|Bangor Normal College]]
'''The Normal College''', [[Bangor, Gwynedd|Bangor]] ({{langx|cy|Y Coleg Normal}}) was an independent teacher training college, founded in 1858.<ref name="archive">{{Cite web |url=http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?coll_id=3274 |title=Gwynedd Archives: Caernarfon Record Office – Records of the Bangor Normal College |access-date=2014-09-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904040809/http://www.archiveswales.org.uk/anw/get_collection.php?coll_id=3274 |archive-date=2014-09-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It was created through the efforts of the [[British and Foreign School Society]] and the educator Sir [[Hugh Owen (educator)|Hugh Owen]], and was funded by £11,000 raised through subscription and £2,000 of Government money. Teaching began on temporary premises in January 1858 and the College opened on its permanent site in 1862.<ref name="archive" /> In 1979 it changed its name to ''Y Coleg Normal, Bangor'' or in English: '''The Normal College, Bangor'''. In 1996 it became part of University College of North Wales (now [[Bangor University]]).

==History==
The term "[[normal school]]" originated in the early 16th century from the French ''école normale''.<ref name="Edwards1991">{{Cite journal |title=Theory, History, and Practice of Education: Fin de siècle and a new beginning |journal=McGill Journal of Education |volume=26 |issue=3 |date=Fall 1991 |url=http://mje.mcgill.ca/index.php/MJE/article/viewFile/7991/5919 |author=Reginald Edwards}}</ref> The French concept of an "école normale" was to provide a model school with model classrooms to teach model teaching practices to its student teachers, thus acting as a teacher training institute.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/école_normale |title=école normale |accessdate=2007-12-11}}</ref>

The Normal College in Bangor was originally set up through the efforts of the local community and [[Hugh Owen (educator)|Sir Hugh Owen]] to the tune of £11,000 and £2,000 of government money.

The former campus is situated on the shores of the [[Menai Strait]] next to the School of Education and School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences and the closest residences to the School of Ocean Sciences in [[Menai Bridge]]. The site has two self-catered halls or residence: Neuadd Seiriol and Neuadd Arfon.

In the 1960s one of the first pro-Welsh language campaigns in Wales was by 20 of the college lecturers for Welsh salary cheques, led by [[Owain Owain]]. The campaign was successful.<ref>[http://www.owainowain.net/ygymdeithas/statwsgyfreithiol/statwsswyddogol.htm ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706130826/http://www.owainowain.net/ygymdeithas/statwsgyfreithiol/statwsswyddogol.htm |date=July 6, 2008 }}</ref> {{clarify|date=June 2020}}

In 1967, the college was the venue for lectures on [[Transcendental Meditation]] by the [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]], at which [[The Beatles]] heard of the death of their manager, [[Brian Epstein]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Higher Browsing: The Third Degree|work=The Guardian|date=27 August 2002}}</ref>

The college was integrated into University College of North Wales (now [[Bangor University]]) in 1996.<ref>{{cite web |title=A 'Normal' life |url=https://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/university/a-normal-life-5128 |publisher=Bangor University}}</ref>

==Staff and alumni==
Notable students and lecturers include:
* [[Owen Prys]]
* [[Gerallt Lloyd Owen]]
* [[John Lasarus Williams]]
* [[Owain Owain]]
* [[Selwyn Griffith]] (Selwyn Iolen), Archdruid and crowned poet
* [[Hafina Clwyd]], journalist
* [[Windsor Davies]], teacher who became an actor
* [[Ryan Davies]], Welsh comedian, entertainer and musician.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Bangor Normal College}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|53.2298|-4.1313|display=title}}

[[Category:University of Wales]]
[[Category:Bangor University]]
[[Category:Teacher training colleges in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Gwynedd]]
[[Category:1858 establishments in the United Kingdom]]

Normal College, Bangor - Revision history

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