Goodbye to lady of the lakes: Charlotte Mason's teacher training college on brink of closure

The legacy of Charlotte Mason, one of the first and most influential education pioneers, will end this summer, barring an unforeseen intervention or change of heart.

That is because the University of Cumbria, facing a deficit of £28m and running an annual loss of £7m, has decided to mothball its Charlotte Mason campus in Ambleside in the Lake District, with the aim of saving £1.8m a year.

It is a tragedy for the Lake District and for women's education and has been pushed through despite protests from students, academics and local people for whom Charlotte Mason's demise would be traumatic.

The university has admitted that even if the campus is reopened it will no longer be involved in teacher training, the activity for which it is famous and which attracts students from all over the world.

Born in 1842, Charlotte Mason was ahead of her time. She campaigned for a broad curriculum for all children, regardless of social class, and believed in treating children as people. After moving to Ambleside in 1891, she established the House of Education, a training school for governesses and others working with young children.

After her death in 1923 the training school became Charlotte Mason College, which for decades attracted young, would-be teachers. She was cherished by the women's movement, reflected in the high proportion of female students – around 80 per cent.

During the 1990s the running of the college bounced around between Cumbria education authority, Lancaster University and the Church of England's St Martin's College. When the University of Cumbria was created in 2007 Charlotte Mason was part of it and considered the jewel in its crown. It was the only campus in the Lake District and featured heavily in the university's launch promotion, "Bring Your Dreams".

Within a year, however, the university announced plans to finish teacher training in Ambleside and develop the campus for postgraduate work and a conference centre. The decision brought a storm of protest from students, academics and the local population.

One of the great benefits of Charlotte Mason was that it brought an annual influx of 600 young people to counterbalance the aging population of the Lake District; it also supplied part-time staff for the catering trade and girlfriends for young farmers.

The plan was put on ice, but when a new vice-chancellor, Peter McCaffery, was appointed with a brief to sort out the dire finances of the university, the days of Charlotte Mason were numbered. He found that the multi-centred university had excessive back-office costs, a staff/student ratio too high for its budget, and £25m of debt on its buildings.

All of this was a blow to those who supported the campus like the local Lib Dem MP Tim Farron, and to those who signed a 5,500-signature petition that was sent to the Prime Minister. But it was to no avail.

The university has instead decided to invest in improving existing buildings, particularly in Carlisle and Lancaster, and will move trainee teachers to either site. "The national cap on student numbers means that we had to review our original assumptions and take some tough decisions," says the Venerable Peter Ballard, chairman of the university's board. "We need to ensure we deliver key projects that will benefit our students and the local community."

The university is thinking about how it can harness the strength of feeling about its connections to Ambleside. Meanwhile, the MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Tim Farron, has bid for £25m from the Higher Education Funding Council (Hefce) to see the university through its troubles.

"It is just wrong to remove all the students from Ambleside campus – it is a heartbreaking prospect for the students and will damage the community and economy of Ambleside.

"Ambleside has proven to be Cumbria's most successful campus in terms of recruitment in recent years – to effectively close it is madness, as well as a huge blow to local people," he says.

The university's proposals still have to be signed off by Hefce and the Northwest Regional Development Agency on 25 March and Farron believes that means the fight for Ambleside can be won. "We still have at least one more chance to protect Charlotte Mason's legacy at Ambleside, and we should ensure that we grasp it," he says.