Tributes have been paid to a man who helped shape Carlisle’s famous art college campus.

Adrian Turner, a former principal of Cumbria College of Art and Design, died at St Joseph’s Hospice in London.


Adrian Turner Mr Turner lived in Irthington during his time as principal at the Brampton Road campus, which evolved into the Cumbria Institute of the Arts and later part of the University of Cumbria.

He served as its leader between 1976 and 1991.

He was later awarded an honorary fellowship, in November 2002, in recognition of the development of the Brampton Road campus and the ongoing support he had given to the institution.

Professor Peter Strike, vice-chancellor of the university, said: “We were saddened to receive the news about Adrian.

“He continued to be a strong ambassador for the university, in particular supporting developments and events at our London campus from his home in the capital.

“Our thoughts are with his family.”

Peter Harman, who served as Mr Turner’s vice-principal, was among those to pass on condolences.

He said: “This is truly sad news, even though I knew he was terminally ill.

“He was well-liked, a gentleman in the true sense with a gentle sense of humour. I will miss him.”

Mr Harman continued: “I always thought that Adrian retired too early, just as all his hard work materialised into results.

“His great love was for the Stanwix Arts Theatre which he developed from scratch. In the early days sometimes the Turners and the Harmans were the entire audience.”

This week Professor David Vaughan, who took over at the helm of Brampton Road from Mr Turner, said his predecessor had “tremendous vision”.

Mr Turner remained a key supporter of the campus and of the university right up until his death on October 30. Less than three weeks before he died, Mr Turner wrote about his time in charge at Brampton Road and sent those reflections to the university’s development manager Karen Jones, who is writing a book about the Stanwix campus.

A year ago Mr Turner attended several of the winter graduation ceremonies at Carlisle Cathedral.

In June last year he also attended the launch of the University of Cumbria’s new East India Dock Road campus, which was nearer his home in London.

In a letter to Mr Turner’s son Jason, Ms Jones said: “I live in Irthington and remember the years when your parents hosted the pupils from Tanzania as part of their introduction to Cumbria and their host families.

“We’d spend many a happy evening at Beanlands. He is still fondly remembered in the village, not least for the amazing ‘open-house’ party they had just before they left to pastures new.”

She added that she was “humbled and honoured” that Mr Turner dedicated time in his final weeks to sharing his memories as part of her research.

“He will be sadly missed and highly respected for all he did,” she added.

Mr Turner is survived by his wife Rosemary, two sons Jason and Lucas and daughter Sophie.

No funeral service has been held as Mr Turner donated his body to medical science.

His family also want to maintain links with the University of Cumbria.