University of Wales, Lampeter

History

When Thomas Burgess was appointed Bishop of St David's in 1803 he almost immediately identified the need to establish a College in which young men could train for the Ministry of the Church.

Related Topics:
Thomas Burgess - Bishop of St David's - 1803

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Burgess had no Welsh connections; he was born in England in 1756 and after Winchester and Oxford he had short stays in Salisbury and Durham before being appointed to his first bishopric in Wales in 1803. Originally Burgess intended to build his new college to train priests in Llanddewi Brefi, which at the time was similar in size to Lampeter, but ten kilometres from it, and with an honoured place in the Christian history of Wales. When Burgess was staying with his friend the Bishop of Gloucester in 1820, however, he met John Scandrett Harford, a wealthy landowner from Gloucestershire, who donated the three acre (12,000 m²) site called Castle Field in Lampeter. so called for the Norman castle once contained in the field. This is the site on which the present University stands.

Related Topics:
1756 - Winchester - Oxford - Salisbury - Durham - Wales - 1803 - Llanddewi Brefi - Gloucester - 1820 - John Scandrett Harford - Gloucestershire - Norman - Castle

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St David's College was thus founded just outside Lampeter in 1822. Burgess left St. David's in 1825 to become Bishop of Salisbury, but work on the college continued, largely supervised by Harford. The £16,000 required to erect the college had been raised from public donations, a government grant, and highly publicised gifts, including one from King George IV. The main college building was completed in 1827, and the college officially opened on St. David's Day of that year, welcoming its first 26 students. As such, after the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and those in Scotland, it is the oldest university institution in Britain, receiving its first charter in 1828. In 1852, the college gained the right to award the degree of Bachelor of Divinity, (BD), and in 1865 the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA), long before the other colleges in Wales gained their own degree awarding powers.

Related Topics:
1822 - 1825 - King George IV - 1827 - St. David's Day - Oxford - Cambridge - Scotland - 1828 - 1852 - Bachelor of Divinity - 1865 - Bachelor of Arts

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Although it continued as a centre of clergy training until 1978, there was always a considerable proportion of students who did not intend to be ordained - The 1896 charter specifically stated that the college could accept anyone, regardless of whether they intended to take Holy Orders. In 1971, after years of discussion, Principal J.R. Lloyd Thomas led the college into the federal University of Wales, and suspended its own degree-awarding powers. It became St David's University College (SDUC). By the this time, the college had begun shifting its specialisms, and whilst Religious Studies continued to be a strong point, students could choose from a much wider range of liberal arts subjects. In 1996 the Privy Council - in response to a petition from the University - agreed to change its title again to the University of Wales, Lampeter in line with moves elsewhere in the University and the recognition of its growth and changing status.

Related Topics:
1971 - J.R. Lloyd Thomas - University of Wales - Liberal arts - 1996

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Today, the university specialises in Theology, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Classics, Anthropology, Archaeology, English and History. In the early 1990s there also existed a hugely influencial Human Geography department at the college. This was closed in 2001, but the diaspora of the Lampeter Geography School continue to have an influence on their field.

Related Topics:
Theology - Religious Studies - Philosophy - Classics - Anthropology - Archaeology - English - History - 1990s - Human Geography - 2001 - Lampeter Geography School

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