Description: William Ewart Gladstone addressing the crowds at the laying of the foundation stone ceremony. He served Great Britain as prime minister four times (1868-74, 1880-85, 1886, and 1892-94), so was not serving as Prime Minister at the time of the ceremony. The engraving is taken from 'The Illustrated London News' 6 October 1877. The University College was built between 1877 and 1881 by Lockwood and Mawson in a Victorian high gothic style. The project was overseen by M Ogle Tarbotton (who was at that time the City Municipal Architect, responsible for other civic structures in Nottingham around the 1870's, such as the building of the new Trent Bridge). The University closed 2 years after it opened because of structural defects, and reopened in 1890. It originally housed the public library, University College, technical and trade schools, and the Natural History Museum (now in Wollaton Hall). From its foundation in 1881, the University College came under the authority of the Nottingham Corporation and the College's management committee was controlled by the Town Council. (In 1906-1908 D H Lawrence was a student at the University College.) The University re-located to its present site between Lenton, Dunkirk and Beeston in 1928. In August 1948, the University College received the royal charter granting full University status and the power to confer its own degrees (prior to this date students at Nottingham received degrees from the University of London). Parts of the old University College buildings were then used as Nottingham Central Library before becoming what is today part of Nottingham Trent University.