Handsworth Hall (University of Aston)

Handsworth Hall, also known as the University of Aston and formerly listed as Handsworth College, is a former Methodist Theological College completed in 1881 by the architects Goddard and Ball. The building is constructed of brick with a purple diaper pattern and features terracotta dressings, designed in a Perpendicular style. It has nine two-storey bays on either side of a central tower, which is flanked by gabled cross-wings that contain large transomed windows; the left wing houses the great hall. All the windows are two-light with two-centred arched heads, and there is terracotta banding throughout the structure. The tower rises to four storeys and is topped with a deep parapet adorned with large polygonal clasping turrets that end in cupolas. Above the entrance, there is a prominent two-storeyed oriel window, and above this, two tall mullioned and transomed windows with four-centred arched heads are set into the tower, which features a parapet supported by elaborate corbelling.