Carnatic Halls, is the largest of the University of Liverpools' two halls of residence sites located in the suburbs of Liverpool, England. It stands within the Mossley Hill area of the city.
Contents |
The site is home to six halls of residence:
All six halls have access to the central 'Carnatic House', which houses a refectory for catered students and guests; as well as a student bar - known as the 'CarniBar'.
As well as the CarniBar, the site has a small shop, which is run in conjunction with the Liverpool Guild of Students, and provides basic living necessities.
The CarniBar offers a wide range of activities besides that of a normal bar. Every televised Premier League, UEFA Champion's League, FA Cup and Carling Cup match is shown, as well as international football matches. Similarly, international rugby is also shown, such as the annual Six Nations Championship.
When the CarniBar is showing live sport, usually MTV or a similar music channel is shown on the television. Alternatively, a jukebox is used.
As well as a place to congregate and watch live sport, the CarniBar also serves as a venue for site-wide events, such as end-of-term balls, Halloween and Christmas parties and specially arranged event, such as quiz nights.
However, most popularly, the CarniBar is used as a meeting place for students before a night out in Liverpool. On such nights, usually a most weekdays, a DJ is present to provide live music.
As with the other site, Greenbank Halls, a range of catered and self-catered accommodation is available. However, as Greenbank is primarily self-catered, Carnatic Halls are primarily catered. As such, self-catered accommodation is limited to parts of Dale Hall.
Meals included with the self-catering accommodation are breakfast and dinner. Meal times are as follows:
Carnatic Halls are served by the Arriva bus service, which runs every 10 minutes throughout the day and every 20 minutes at night and at the weekend. Student bus passes are available on a termly, bi-termly or annual basis.
A short walk down Rose Lane leads to Mossley Hill railway station, which provides links to the local hinterland as well as the city centre.
Finally, each hall has its own allocated car park, for around 30 cars. This means that students wishing to bring a car to university with them may do so. There is also a provision for the safe storage of bicycles and motorbikes. Each service incurs a small annual payment.
Carnatic Halls are situated in the suburb of Mossley Hill, a residential area of south Liverpool. Consequently, there is much in the way of local facilities. There is a large Tesco superstore a mile away, several local newsagents and a range of restaurants and pubs.
Sefton Park is also a short walk away, as is Greenbank Park and the University playing fields. However, Carnatic has a large lawn itself, so the need for open space is already amply provided for.
The site was originally the location of Mossley Hill House (known to locals as Carnatic Hall), built by Liverpool shipwright Peter Baker around 1779. The money to build this house came from the sale of a ship called the "Carnatic", which was captured by Baker's ship, The Mentor[1] from the French in 1788. The cargo was worth £400,000, with £135,000 in diamonds alone, a fortune at that time.
In 1891 it was almost completely destroyed by fire and the then owner, Walter Holland, had a new similar styled hall erected. In 1947 the University of Liverpool purchased the hall outright and, until it was demolished in 1964, University of Liverpool Museum made use of the building[2].
Salisbury, McNair and Rankin Hall (the second University hall to bear this name, the original having been based at 44-46 Ullet Road, Liverpool) were built on this site between 1964 and 1972. More residences were added: Morton House and Lady Mountford Hall between 1971 and 1974, and Dale Hall. By this period, mixed halls were the norm although Derby, McNair and Rankin Halls were restricted to men, and Salisbury to women. However, at the present time, all halls on the site are mixed.