Founded in 1827 by the Church Missionary Society to train African clergy and teachers, Fourah Bay College was the first Western-style university in Sub-Saharan Africa. From the 1870s it was affiliated with Durham University and awarded Durham degrees; an extraordinary range of West African intellectual life passed through its doors. It is today a constituent college of the University of Sierra Leone.
The main campus has long since moved to Mount Aureol above the city, where the buildings are functional 1960s concrete. The much more atmospheric original building still stands at Cline Town on the waterfront — abandoned, vine-covered, and gradually being reclaimed by the bush. Both sites are worth a visit; the ruin in particular is a moving site for anyone interested in West African intellectual history.