Keele Lodge - one of the 5 stone lodges
They say that small events change the course of history and this certainly seems to have been true for Keele. Ralph Sneyd was minded to oppose the sale of his land to the newly created University College of North Staffordshire, but he adjourned the discussions to hear the result of a horse race, and as his horse had won he came back in good humour and agreed to sell.
So in 1949 the new college became the new owners of 150 acres of the Keele estate, which included a rather dilapidated Keele Hall and 5 stone lodges that were built in the mid 1800s.
Both the Hall and the park had been neglected during the war so the Nissan huts built during the war were very useful to the university when it first acquired the estate, as they were used for teaching and accommodation, while the hall was repaired.