Campbell College, Belfast

Campbell College, Belfast was opened in 1894 on the outskirts of the city thanks to a bequest by a linen merchant, Henry James Campbell. A preparatory school, Cabin Hill, was added in 1924. The College holds a large amount of archival material and artefacts from the establishment of the college right through the 20th century.

Our sporting heritage related collection spans from the beginnings of the school until the present day and represents an extensive range of sports. Our largest collections relate to rugby, cricket, and hockey, with swimming, diving, gymnastics, athletics, tennis, squash, football/soccer, sailing, boxing, badminton, basketball, ping pong, motor racing, shooting, drill and fives also represented. Sporting activities, such as ice skating, cycling, and rambling are also referenced in our materials.

• Sports teams and club photographs from Campbell College (1894-today) and preparatory school (1924-today)
• Photographs of sports buildings, pitches and grounds
• Maps of grounds detailing pitches and the changes over the years.
• Architectural drawings of sports buildings and swimming pools.
• Cups and shields
• Badges and Caps from cricket and rugby
• Scrapbooks and coaches’ notebooks
• Newspaper clippings
• Sports Days ephemera including tickets, scoring sheets and photographs.
• Complete run of the school magazine The Campbellian, and the preparatory version The Junior Campbellian which includes detailed match reports and character sketches of many of the first teams.
• Items relating to the Ulster School’s Cup
• Items relating to numerous high-achieving athletes including Olympians, Commonwealth Games, and International players
• Our buildings and grounds also represent aspects of our sporting heritage, including Honours Boards for First VX and First XI, the W.H. Browne cricket pavilion and our many pitches.
Some of the material is available to view on our archive website:
Campbell College Digital Archive