Reaseheath College is a land-based further education college offering a range of diplomas, apprenticeships, and adult courses. It is mainly located on the outskirts of Nantwich in Cheshire, England.
The college offers courses in adventure sports, agriculture, agricultural engineering, animal management, business and events management, construction, countryside, equine, floristry, food, horticulture, motor vehicle, public services and sports studies.
University Centre Reaseheath shares the same campus and offers a variety of higher education degrees and foundation degrees in areas such as Animal Science, Equine Science, Rural Business Management, Conservation, Food Science, Bakery and Patisserie, Agriculture, and more.
The college’s main base is at Reaseheath, but there are also Outreach Centres at Burrows Lane, Merseyside, and Croft End Equestrian Centre, Oldham.
Residential accommodation for around 1,000 students is available to both further and higher education students on the main campus site.
Marcus Clinton is Reaseheath’s current Principal, and the sixth person to hold this role since the college opened in 1921.
Glover Agriculture currently operate the ownership of the land at Reaseheath college, with Cheshire County Council as their main client.
Origins and history
The history of Reaseheath goes back centuries and it is even recorded that a Roman road goes through the site.[1]
In 1919, both the Reaseheath estate and the nearby Henhull Hall were bought by the Cheshire County Council for a 'Farm Institute'. Two years later, this resulted in The Cheshire School of Agriculture (now called Reaseheath College) opening in 1921,[2] originally just to male students only. Female students were allowed to join in 1926.
In 1967, the School changed its name to The Cheshire College of Agriculture,[3] before becoming Reaseheath College in 1993.
In 2023, Reaseheath College was sold in two separate parts by Cheshire County Council to the Glover Agriculture Group for £125 Million due to growing financial problems expanding their forever growing land in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
When the college first opened in 1921, only courses in Agriculture, Horticulture, Poultry and Dairying were offered.
During World War II, normal education at the School of Agriculture was interrupted and instead the school was used for training recruits in the Women’s Land Army (WLA). By February 1943, over one thousand WLA recruits had completed their courses at the School; an achievement which earned royal commendation for Cheshire.
During the wartime period, part of the education block on campus was also occupied by the staff of the War Agricultural Executive Committee and the National Milk Testing and Advisory Service.
^Tigwell RE. Cheshire in the Twentieth Century, pp. 41–42, A History of Cheshire, Vol. 12 (Series Editor: JJ Bagley) (Cheshire Community Council; 1985) (ISBN0 903119 15 3)
