A sneak peek inside the newest exhibition to hit campus

“To the students I say that the honour and dignity of this university are largely in your hands, and I look to you to initiate and hand down worthy traditions to your successors.” Spoken by King Edward VII at the formal opening of England’s first civic university on 7 July 1909, these words preceded 125 years of creativity, discovery, action and ideas at the University of Birmingham.

Now, through film, art and objects, a new exhibition curated by University Collections in the Aston Webb building follows the journey that these words set in motion.  Largely in your hands: making and shaping a university delves into the fascinating stories of the people behind our institution, exploring the ‘worthy traditions’ that have been passed on and reinvented. 

Clare Mullett, Head of University Collections, said: “We’re incredibly excited to open this new exhibition, which has been a true labour of love by the University Collections team. The exhibition is about the people that make a university - the staff, the students and the communities that they are part of. We have used our museum collections, archives and architecture, encouraging people to look with fresh eyes, and amplifying voices that may not previously have been heard. We hope that, in exploring the artefacts and ideas on display, our visitors take away a real sense of the University of Birmingham’s incredible legacy.” 

Here, we provide a small glimpse into what visitors to the exhibition, which opens on Saturday 21 June, can expect.

Precious objects 

It all began with a royal speech that was followed by the signing of the royal charter – and the new exhibition has the beautiful, intricately crafted bronze and wood pen that King Edward VII used to sign that very document that made the University of Birmingham the country’s first recognised civic university on display. 

Sitting alongside this is the ceremonial key. Inscribed with the date of the official opening ceremony - 7 July 1909 - the key was created as a symbolic gesture of welcome to the new University and presented to King Edward VII at the event. Whilst the original solid-gold and wrought-steel key was retained by the royals, three brass replicas were created and presented to local dignitaries, the piece on display being one of them. Sketches showing earlier designs for the key can also be viewed in the exhibition. These were created by the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft, under the direction of Aston Webb.

Another of the priceless artefacts on display is the Mace that has been carried by leaders of the University at every graduation ceremony since 1902. Commissioned by Alice Beale, a prominent figure in Birmingham social reform and the wife of the University’s first Vice Chancellor, Charles Gabriel Beale, the exquisite piece of silverwork was designed through collaboration between two leading artists and designers, Philip Webb and Robert Catterson-Smith. At the time, it was described as ‘one of the finest pieces of silversmith’s work ever made in Birmingham’.

And those graduation ceremonies haven’t always been held on campus. Before the campus construction was completed, degree ceremonies were held in Birmingham city centre. The exhibition has a BFI film playing in which Arthur Duncan Thomas, an early cinematographer and showman, captured a sense of the atmosphere and spectacle of the first ceremony in July 1901. Huge crowds turned out and men, women and children lined the streets. Watch out for the time-honoured tradition of graduation showboating and some macabre antics from Medical graduates!

The construction of time 

Old Joe, standing at 100 metres, remains the world’s tallest freestanding clock tower over a hundred years after its completion and the Largely in your hands exhibition has the Royal Institute of British Architects’ (RIBA’s) permission to display the original hand-drawn plan by architects Sir Aston Webb and Edward Ingress Bell.

Created in 1906, the intricate drawing of the elevation of the Chamberlain Tower with plans at three different stages shows the dramatically soaring Accrington Redbrick clock tower, topped with a corbelled top stage that holds the bells. Workers constructed the tower without scaffolding over two years to bring Webb and Bell’s plan to reality.

Old Joe has been interpreted by artists and academics and depicted in various forms over the last century. Roy Lehrle explored the motif in an oil on card painting in the 1950s (reproduction) for what would become the front cover of the Chemistry department magazine Retort.

Key figures

The exhibition reminds us that the University has been shaped by those who have walked its halls, and will continue to be moulded by those academics and students who are currently here, and those yet to come.

One such figure is Professor Stuart Hall, whose portrait by Vanley Burke can be seen in the 'What can a university be' section. A Jamaican-born cultural theorist and political activist, Professor Hall was a founding figure in the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) and was director of the Centre from 1968 to 1979. Hall was a pioneer in the field of cultural studies. He used cultural studies as a mechanism to understand the societal structures that shape our everyday lives. He encouraged students to apply the theories they learned in the classroom to real-life situations to improve society.

The Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) was established in 1964. Unlike traditional academic practices that focused only on classical or 'high' culture, the CCCS looked at all elements of popular culture to understand the connection between culture, politics and society. Students at the CCCS studied real-life issues and applied their knowledge to expose injustice and instigate positive change.

Meanwhile, a steel key from University House unlocks the story of Rose Sidgwick, a University teacher and one of the founders of the International Federation of University Women. She became a History lecturer in 1905 and played a key role in establishing University House, which was the first purpose-built women's hall of residence within a coeducational university in Britain. This hall holds great significance within the context of the women's movement in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. University House provided safe and supportive accommodation for young women - a secure environment that reassured Edwardian parents that their daughters could live away from home to study.

Connected to this is the Portrait of Margery Fry, who in 1904 was appointed the first warden of University House. She created a lively community in halls, using painting and literature to engage with the students. In 1914, she left Birmingham to work for the Friends War Victims Relief Committee, travelling through war zones and helping vulnerable people. She then worked in prison reform and became one of the first women in Britain to become a magistrate. The 1915 pastel portrait by Charles Haslewood Shannon depicts Fry at her desk, glancing up, briefly, from her work suggesting that the sitter is without vanity or self-importance.

A modern take

As visitors journey through the exhibition, they’ll find numerous places to interact with the exhibits via specially-placed pegboards. One that’s sure to spark lively debate is connected to the Pegram Figures - the architectural stone carvings of Beethoven, Virgil, Michelangelo, Plato, Shakespeare, Newton, Watt, Faraday and Darwin - that have been welcoming students through the main doors of the Aston Webb building since it was completed in situ by sculptor Henry Pegram in 1907.

A reproduced drawing of the proposed design for the frieze on display reveals that the architects originally suggested incorporating an astounding 19 human figures. Four ‘great men’ – William Shakespeare, Francis Bacon, Plato and Archimedes – are interspersed with prominent thinkers of the Midlands. In the end, they reached a compromise with the final selection of nine.

At the time, this selection of figures was very forward-thinking. Instead of great saints, the new civic institution chose secular figures from the worlds of art, philosophy, science and industry to represent itself.

Now, 125 years later, in an activity titled 'Set in stone: who’s your hero?' the exhibition asks visitors: “Who would be your role model to set in stone for the University of Birmingham today? Choose anyone from any point in history, any field or background - tell us why they matter to you, and encourages people to write or draw their suggestions, or vote on those already mooted.

At the end of the exhibition, visitors will arrive at the fourth and final section, known as the Gathering Place. It’s intended as a space in which to gather your thoughts, sit, chat, share ideas and reflect on the exhibition, leaving feedback if you wish.

The Largely in your hands: making and shaping a university exhibition in the Aston Webb Building opens during the University’s Come to Campus Community Festival on Saturday 21 June 2025 and will run until June 2028.