Runnymede Campus
The Campus is situated at Cooper's Hill on the slopes above the River names at Runnymede. It commands views of Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and West London. Windsor Castle and the Thames are clearly seen from the site. Close by is the Kennedy Memorial is and, further down the slopes, is the Magna Carta memorial erected by the American Bar Association to commemorate the sealing ofthe Charter in 1215.
History: 12th - 19th Centuries
In 1160 Abbot Hugh of Chertsey gave the site to the Priory of Ankerwyke. Henry VIII granted it, in 1539, to Andrew, Lord Windsor, by which time it had become the manor Parnish (or 'perchnos' stubble land with pear trees). The first trace of the name "Cowper" appears in 1547; the family were continual offenders against the Forest Laws. In 1550 Edward VI gave the site to Sir Thomas Smith, Secretary of State. Owned by John Lee in 1652, it passed by marriage to Simon Harcourt in the 18th Century and remained in the family until it was bought in the 19th Century by Baron Albert Grant the financier. He entertained lavishly and a visit by the Prince of Wales is recorded. Following the financial collapse of Grant, the building was put up for sale.
Royal Indian Engineering College
The estate was bought in 1870 for use as the Royal Indian Engineering College. The President of the College, Sir George Chesney, had seen the empty building while boating on the Thames. The property was converted under the direction of Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt who had worked with Sir Gilbert Scott on the India Office, Whitehall. The Chapel was designed by a member of the Wyatt family. The Illustrated London News (25 November 1871) spoke of "the erection of an entirely new block" (the present College Hall). There were four classrooms, library, lecture theatre, model room, dining ball, laboratory and separate sleeping rooms for every student; 100 at first, 150 later.
The President was housed in what is now called President Hall; corridors retain names with Indian associations ‑ 'Clive Corridor' and 'Warren Hastings Corridor'. The formal opening ofthe RIEC was performed on August 5 1873 by the Duke of Argyle. The students entered the service of the government of India, mostly as engineers, at a starting salary off £420. The RIEC has an important place in the development of engineering education. In addition it was the first institution to introduce forestry courses and its valuable library volumes relating to this part of the College Curriculum were given to Oxford University when forestry studies were introduced there. The beautiful trees which decorate the grounds of the campus are reminders of the RIEC period. They were developed from botanical specimens bought back from all parts of the British Empire by engineers taking the forestry courses. Many trees were destroyed in the storms of 1986 and 1989; in particular the two Chile Pine (Monkey Puzzle) trees which grew to 50m high.
Sir George Chesney was succeeded as President in 1880 by Sir Alexander Taylor who was awarded a GCB in 1889 and retired from the College in 1896. His statue stands near the main drive, and bears the legend "a hero of the Indian Mutiny". It was brought all the way from Delhi in 1960 by his grandchildren and the Cooper's Hill Society. Taylor was succeeded by the General Pennycuik who presided over its culture in 1906. The work of the College was moved to India where a new college was created using the Cooper's Hill name.
The Cheylesmore Family
The buildings remained empty for some years until, on 17 January 1911, the estate was sold to Baroness Cheylesmore for use as a family home. They lived here until 1925 when Lord Cheylesmore was killed in a motor accident the first peer to suffer such a fate in Britain. The family was desolated and the great ballroom, which was being built for the coming of age of their heir, was left unfinished. We know it as Pillar Hall, and it is still occasionally used as a ballroom.
London County Council
By 1938 war clouds were gathering and the prescient London County Council bought the estate for use as an emergency HQ building. War broke out in 1939 and administrative work was transferred from County Hall. In particular, the Records, Comptrollers and Motor Licensing departments were housed there, together with some parts of Education Department including teachers salaries. The statue of Eros was removed from Piccadilly Circus and spent the war under wraps in what is still known as the "Eros Room". In 1946 the Cooper's Hill Emergency Training College was founded under the Principalship of the late John E Daniel. He died in 1948 and was succeeded by Mr H E Pacey. The College closed in 1951.
Shoreditch College of Education
Shoreditch began by training artisans as handicraft teachers at Manual Training Centres. In 1901 the LCC established a Teacher‑Training Department at the Shoreditch Technical College in Hoxton. In 1919 the Board of Education gave the department the status of a training college. By 1930 the Training College Department of the Shoreditch Technical Institute was affiliated to the Training Colleges Delegacy of the University of London. It then separated from the work of the Technical Institute and appointed its own staff. By 1939 there were 150 students. In the expansion of teacher training following World War Two the numbers rose to almost 300. In 1951 the College transferred from Pitfield Street to Cooper's Hill.
The original two year preparatory course was discontinued and three year courses became standard: the College became residential for the first time. It continued to expand and new buildings were formally opened on 1 May 1964, by Paul Riley, Director of the Council of Industrial Design. The number of students rose to 720. With the enhanced status of the profession in the 1970s, four year courses were offered which led to London University degrees. The college provided teacher training courses in design and technology: a subject for which there was a significant national shortage of teachers. Shoreditch was responsible for about 20% of the annual national output of teachers trained in that subject. In addition, a proportion of students were trained as teachers in all general subjects.
Brunel University
Following the directive of the Secretary of State for Education and Science concerning the reduction in teacher‑training generally, negotiations took place between the GLC and DES about the future of the College which led to a proposal where the design and technology courses could he preserved by merging the college with Brunel University. The DES allocated the teacher‑training places in Design and Technology to Shoreditch 'in Brunel University' in the hope that the merger succeeded. The UGC agreed with the University the terms on which they were prepared to give the go‑ahead and agreed that the merger could take place on the 1st August 1980. The Faculty of Education and Design, and later the Department of Design, were based on the Campus. The foci of teaching were Industrial Design, Product Design, Industrial Design Engineering and Industrial Design and Technology. It has became a centre of internationally renowned design research.
From the (sunken) Scriveris Memorial Garden you will see a fine view of Windsor Castle. The track below you leads to the Kennedy Memorial, to the Meads, the site of the memorial to the sealing of Magna Carta in 1215 ‑ and to the Thames. Below the escarpment and to the left is the Duelling Field: the site of the last duel fought in England ‑ the loser is buried in Egham Churchyard. Retracing your steps, moving eastwards past President, College and Kimberley, there is a garden commanding a view of London. The Air Forces Memorial is farther along the hill.
Local attractions include Windsor Great Park, Virginia Water, Savill Gardens, Windsor Castle and Chapel, Windsor Guildhall, Eton College, Wentworth and Sunningdale golf courses.
