The Guild of Students building at the University of Birmingham was opened in 1930. It was designed by the architect Holland W Hobbiss and built between 1928 and 1930.
The central plaque featuring the shield of the University of Birmingham is the work of William Bloye and displayed above a carved dated plaque which appear to be being held in place by two long-haired female figures to the left and right.
The plaque displays the date in Roman numerals that the building was completed and Bloye's plaque was installed which was 1930 ("MCMXXX").
‘William James Boyle ARBSA (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English Sculpture in Birmingham either side of WWII.
Life
He studied and later taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by WWI), when he served in the RAMC from 1915 to 1917, he was eventually succeeded at Birmingham by John Bridgeman), where his pupils included, Gordon Henrickx, Roy Kitchin, Raymond Mason, John Poole and Ian Walters. He also studied stone-carving (letter cutting under Eric Gill around 1921.
In 1925 he became a member of the Birmingham Civic Society, having, at about that time, a studio at 111, Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath Birmingham. As Birmingham’s unofficial civic sculptor, he worked on virtually all public commissions including libraries, hospitals and the University. He often carved bas-relief plagues, typically for public houses in Birmingham, and decorated a number of buildings by the architect Holland W Hobbs.’
At the University of Birmingham, he was the creator of the followings works:
‘Aesculapius’ at the Medical School;
Engineering bas-relief as the Mechanical Engineering Building;
The Bronze Mermaid Fountain and the stone mermaid plaque at the Guild of Students building.
‘He became a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors: Associate (with the honorific suffix ARBS) in 1934, and fellow (FRBS) in 1938. He also won the latter’s Otto Beit Medal. Retiring from the School of Art in 1956 he moved to Solihull. He died in Arezzo, Italy in 1975.’
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"The original building had an 'E-plan front, with three big gables, inspired by Midland's manor houses.' Source: Pevsner’s ‘Architectural Guide – Birmingham’, Editor Andy Foster (ISBN: 978-0-300-10731-9)
Below is a link to an article which was originally published in October 1930 by H. W. Hobbiss, the architect responsible for the original design of the University of Birmingham Guild of Students building: (
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