Cotton College

Cotton College was a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cotton, near Oakamoor, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It was also known as Saint Wilfrid's College. It closed in 1987 and the site is now derelict. The building is a Grade II listed building.

History

It was founded in 1763 by William Errington, at the recommendation of Bishop Richard Challoner, at Sedgley Park, Sedgley, Staffordshire - now a hotel within Wolverhampton. In 1873 it moved to Cotton Hall. The original house appears to date back to 1630 and was most probably built by the Morrice family before Thomas Gilbert moved there. This began an association of the Gilbert Family and the Earl of Shrewsbury as Land Agents and Industrial Entrepreneurs over the next decades till Cotton Hall was sold in 1884. After its sale to the Earl of Shrewsbury it was then used by the Oratorians, and then the Passionists, then finally the secular clergy of the archdiocese of Birmingham. The school closed in 1987 due to financial difficulties, and the structure has fallen into a state of disrepair. Only Saint Wilfrid's church remains intact, although regular services are no longer held there.