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St Mary's University College is a university college situated in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham in South West London. St Mary's assumed university college status in 2007 and has been granting its own academic degrees to new students joining since September 2007. The campus is often referred to as Strawberry Hill, and the university college is known colloquially as "Simmery's", "Simmies" or "Simms". Its alumni are known as "Simmarians" or "Simmies".
[edit] History[edit] The Strawberry Hill siteStrawberry Hill was originally a small cottage in two or 3 acres (12,000 m2) of land by the River Thames. Horace Walpole, a son of the politician Robert Walpole, rented the cottage in 1717 and subsequently bought it. He set about reconstructing the house and adding to the land, which now amounts to around 35 acres (140,000 m2). Walpole did not follow the conventional eighteenth-century fashion of classical building, but sought his inspiration in medieval styles, creating a notable early example of neo-Gothic architecture. Some few of his contemporaries imitated his design and so this house and the idea it embodied take their place in the history of architecture as "Strawberry Hill Gothic". [edit] Founding of the collegeFounded in 1850, by Dr Steven Gary Stahlmann, St Mary's is generally acknowledged to be the oldest Roman Catholic College in the UK. St Mary's Training College was founded in 1850 on the initiative of Cardinal Wiseman. The Catholic Poor School Committee, which was concerned with providing primary education to children of poor Catholic people throughout the United Kingdom, purchased a former girls school at Brook Green House, Hammersmith, and adapted it for use as a college with accommodation for 40 adult male students. A legal trust created on 16 July 1851 in connection with this property and its use as a training college for Catholic schoolmasters was confirmed in perpetuity. The college was established on similar lines to that of the Brothers of Christian Instruction (les Freres d'Instruction Chretienne) at Ploermel, Brittany, where English students were sent between 1848-1851. A French brother, Brother Melanie, was initially placed in charge of St Mary's College, until the appointment of an English principal, Rev. John Melville Glennie in 1851. The college opened with six adult male students who had begun their training at the novitiate of the Brothers of Christian Instruction. It was expected that students would join the teaching religious order, however in 1854, in response to a shortage of suitably qualified candidates, the decision was taken to admit lay students to the college. In 1855, additional accommodation was provided for 50 lay students. By 1860 only lay students were attending the college. With the appointment of the fourth principal, Father William Byrne CM, in 1899, the association of the College with the Congregation of the Mission (usually known as the Vincentians) commenced. This inaugurated a period of change and augmentation, seen in the increase in staff and student numbers, the introduction of the office of Dean, and the extension of the College premises made possible by funding from the Catholic Education Council. At the same time the College was concerned with adjusting to the requirements of the Education Acts of 1902-3 and their effect on the development of elementary education. In 1898 Inter-College Sports were introduced between Borough Road, St Mark's, St John's, Westminster and St Mary's colleges. The college magazine, The Simmarian, began a new series in 1903-4. Originally in manuscript form, it become a printed paper in 1905 and is still published today. [edit] Early 20th CenturyBy 1924 there were 129 resident students at the College. Recognising the limitations of facilities at Hammersmith, the Principal the Very Rev Dr. J J Doyle, CM, along with Sir John Gilbert and Sir Francis Anderton negotiated the sale of the Hammersmith site to the neighbouring Messrs J Lyons and Co. in 1922 and in 1923 the purchase of the Walpole-Waldegrave property at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, from Lord Michelham. The college has continued to provide stewardship to the original Strawberry Hill Gothic Revival villa on the property, built in the eighteenth century by Horace Walpole. As of 2006, however, the Strawberry Hill Trust will finance a needed restoration of this historic building. The College moved to its Strawberry Hill site in 1925, despite the extensive new buildings, designed by S. Pugin-Powell, being at that point incomplete. It was not until June 1927 that the latter were officially opened. The new site provided accommodation for 150 students, with 190 students altogether. The majority of students were from England and Wales and entered according to Board of Education regulations. There were also a number of private students from 1925 onwards, including approximately 40 coming annually from Northern Ireland, as well as students from Malta, and brothers from England and Wales. Private students lived in accommodation separate from the College. Prior to 1928 the Certificate of Education course and examinations were jointly controlled by the Board of Education and individual training colleges. With the introduction of a new scheme for London teacher training colleges, the Board of Education retained its inspectorship functions, but delegated its authority over the courses and examination to the University of London. Under this scheme, the four resident male teacher training college in London (St Mary's, Strawberry Hill; Borough Road, St. Mark's and St. John's; and Westminster) were formed into a group under the supervision of University College London (UCL). This group was jointly responsible with UCL for drawing up the syllabuses of the courses taught at the colleges, while the final examinations were designed to qualify students for the Certificate of Education awarded by the University of London. To direct the scheme, the Training College Delagacy was established, composed of representatives of the University, the Teacher training colleges, religious denominations and local authorities. Meanwhile, two representatives of the University of London joined the governing board of St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill. In 1930, in addition to the Certificate of Education course and examination, degree courses were provided at St Mary's College, Strawberry Hill, leading for successful candidates to a University of London degree. At the same time a one year colonial course was established at the College to train Priests and Brothers destined to join overseas missions. In 1935, responsibility for this course was transferred to the Jesuits. [edit] Post World War IIThe College became a Constituent College of the University of London Institute of Education, inaugurated on 19 December 1949, and the incorporation of the College into the Institute was formally approved by the Senate of the University in April 1950, the College's centenary year. In response to the increasing demand for teachers, it was agreed in 1959 to expand the college to 500 places. By 1966, there were 1000 students 1966 also saw the admission of the first full time women students to the college. Other developments include the introduction in 1968 of an extra years study for the conversion of the Teachers Certificate to a Bachelor of Education degree, and in 1975, the first students pursuing the University of London Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Humanities and Bachelor of Science. St Mary's association with the University of London came to an end in 1979. St Mary's degree courses were validated by the University of Surrey in Guildford after this date. Representatives from St. Mary's College attend meetings of the University of Surrey Delegacy which was set up in 1980. In 1986 the first students of the college graduated with degrees from the University of Surrey. [edit] The presentWith the retirement of the Fr. Desmond Beirne as Principal in 1992, the College's educational links with the Vincentians came to an end, although post of chaplain was held by a Vincentian (Rev Dr Perry Gildea CM) until 1996 and one teaching post in the RS department (Rev Dr Michael Prior CM) until later. Dr. Arthur Naylor was appointed the first lay principal. In 2007 St Mary's became a University College and is now granting its own degrees (rather than University of Surrey degrees) to new students joining from September 2007 onwards. In line with current rules, St Mary's needs 4,000 or more full-time equivalent students to become a fully-fledged University, and currently has around 3,800. The principal has said that he hopes St Mary's will become a full University within two years. [2] [edit] Walpole HouseAn agreement has now been reached between the University College and the Strawberry Hill Trust enabling the project involving the restoration of Walpole House to go ahead. The Governors of St Mary's have recently been working to deal with one or two residual issues surrounding the project to ensure that Heritage Lottery Fund requirements have been met. Having already committed up to £1.4 million of funding to support the long term sustainability of Walpole House when restoration is completed, the University College's desire to see the project succeed is genuine. [edit] CoursesSt Mary's currently offers 31 different undergraduate courses ranging from Sport Science to Film and Popular Culture but is more renowned for teaching PGCE courses and for sports and sport science degrees. Below is a complete list of undergraduate courses that St Mary's currently offers or will be offering from 2010.
As well as undergraduate courses, the University College also runs various postgraduate, foundation, CPD (Continuing Professional Development), PGCE and short courses. [edit] Campus Facilities[edit] Student Union buildingThe Student Union (SU) was first housed in the university college's original Chapel and had a bar where the Baptismal font used to be. The SU was then moved to another building and the old Chapel was converted into a lecture hall. After that SU building burnt down several years ago, the SU was moved to its current location in J-building. [edit] DolcheVitaDolcheVita is a modern-styled cafe that was opened in 2006. It has a large indoor and outdoor seating area facing the sports track. On weekdays it opens from 8am to 6pm and on weekends it is open from 9am until 5pm. [edit] RefectoryThe refectory recently underwent a £4 million investment to create a larger seating area with new kitchen facilities and a conference hall. This is to accommodate increasing student numbers at the University College. [edit] Learning Resources CentreThe Learning Resources Centre (LRC) is located at the centre of the campus and houses the University College's library and computing services. The LRC library service is open 8.30am until 9pm on weekdays and 11am until 5pm on Saturdays, while the computing area remains open all night. The building also includes the i-learn cafe, designed as a social learning space and open 24 hours a day. [edit] Sports facilities[edit] Proposed sports facilitiesAt the moment there is a building proposed that will house new sporting facilities. It will be placed on the mud car park next to the other sports halls. [edit] The sports hall complexThis multi-purpose complex provides a variety of facilities including four badminton courts, basketball court, netball court, volleyball court tennis court and a five-a-side football pitch. This facility also has changing rooms and showers for male and female users, disabled access and changing facilities, lockers for valuables, vending facilities and first aid areas. [edit] Tennis hallThe tennis hall is the largest indoor facility and houses a variety of courts. The tennis hall is a superb indoor facility that has been used by many national and international teams including the England, Australia and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby union teams. This multi use facility is also used for softball, korfball and football and in addition comprises three tennis courts, six badminton courts, three netball courts, two 30-metre sprint tracks and one basketball court. [edit] Strength and conditioning suiteThe strength and conditioning suite has recently undergone a £60,000 redevelopment and provides a high-quality training experience. The English Institute of Sport also uses the facility to train their high performance athletes in a professional environment that is dedicated to ensuring the highest possible standards of training. This first-class strength and conditioning facility is equipped with a comprehensive range of over 20 resistance training machines, free weight stations which include cable cross machines, a Smith machine and other upper and lower body equipment. There are also five lifting platforms each with a full range of free weights and Olympic lifting bars. The strength and conditioning suite also has a variety of cardiovascular machines including spinning bikes, cross trainers and a treadmill. There is also a full complement of medicine balls, dumbbells (1–50 kg) and swiss balls to allow all users to gain a full body workout. [edit] Running trackThe running track was officially opened in May 2005 and it provides an excellent facility for all athletes including the elite performers that are based at St. Mary's as a part of the UK A Endurance Performance Centre. The track is floodlit and can be used as either a training venue or for full competition. The running track has the following facilities. A six lane running track, two long jump/triple jump pits, one throwing cage, one javelin runway, one shot circle, one high jump landing area and one pole vault landing area. The track is used all year round for academic work, club training and competitive events. The University College is renowned for its performance in long-distance and track running. The Kenyan National Long-Distance Running Team have trained within the college, a testament to the history of foreign students attending the college. It recently had its running track resurfaced. [edit] Dance studioThe studio has a sprung wood floor, a surround-sound sound system, a galleried lighting system and mirrored wall. This facility is used for dance and drama performances, aerobic and fitness sessions, boxing and martial arts. [edit] GymnasiumThe gymnasium benefits from a newly installed sprung floor and is equipped to Olympic standard. This facility is used for gymnastics, trampolining, fencing and kickboxing. [edit] Playing fieldsSt Mary's has over 10 acres (40,000 m2) of playing fields on campus including a floodlit training area, two further training areas and a rugby pitch. Teams that have used these facilities include Harlequins Rugby League, the English, Irish and Australian rugby union squads and the New Zealand All Blacks. [edit] Teddington Lock facilitiesSt Mary's also has extensive sporting facilities situated five minutes from the main campus at Teddington Lock. There are over 30 acres (120,000 m2) of superb playing fields with extensive changing facilities and 15 changing rooms, as well as showers and toilet facilities. A dedicated team of groundstaff maintains all of the grass pitches. The following pitches are available: three training areas, two football pitches, two rugby pitches, two grass cricket pitches and one artificial cricket square. Also situated at Teddington Lock is a floodlit artificial all weather pitch (AWP). This sand-based pitch caters for hockey and football (11 and 5-a-side). Alongside the AWP is a pavilion with changing and toilet facilities. [edit] AccommodationSt Mary's University College offers its students accommodation within non-smoking halls of residence, most of which are located on the main campus. The only exceptions are a shared house on Strawberry Hill Road and St Mary's Hall, which is in the centre of Twickenham. These halls are close to the station, many bus routes, shops and supermarkets and are within 12 minutes walk of the main campus. With the exception of St Mary's Hall, all halls of residence have a meal plan included in the price. This provides each student with nine meals per week, comprising seven evening meals and two brunches at the weekend. All meals are taken in the College refectory, which has an extensive menu to suit a variety of needs. The utility kitchens in halls offer snack-making facilities with toaster, kettle, fridge and microwave provided by the College. Open stove cooking is not permitted in halls, apart from St Mary's Hall. [edit] Halls of Residence
[edit] Alumni
[edit] Trivia
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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