Royal Agricultural University

Royal Agricultural University

Motto	Latin: Avorum Cultus Pecorumque; (from Virgil's Georgics) "Caring for the Fields and the Beasts"
Type	Public
Established	2013 - University status 1845 - College
President	HRH The Prince of Wales
Principal	Professor Chris Gaskell
Students	1,185 (2014/15)[1]
Undergraduates	950 (2014/15)[1]
Postgraduates	235 (2014/15)[1]
Location	Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK
Campus	Rural
Colours	Black, maroon, yellow
Website	rau.ac.uk

The Royal Agricultural University or RAU (previously known as the Royal Agricultural College or RAC) is a university located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK. Established in 1845,^[2] it was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world.^[3][4] The university provides more than 30 land-based undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes to students from over 45 countries through the School of Agriculture, the School of Business and Entrepreneurship, and the School of Real Estate & Land Management.

History

The Royal Agricultural University was founded as the Royal Agricultural College in 1842,^[5] at a meeting of the Fairford and Cirencester Farmers’ Club. Concerned by the lack of government support for education, Robert Jeffreys-Brown addressed the meeting on the "Advantages of a Specific Education for Agricultural Pursuits".^[6] A prospectus was circulated, a general committee appointed and Earl Bathurst was elected President. Funds were raised by public subscription: much of the support came from the wealthy landowners and farmers of the day; there was no Government support. The first 25 students were admitted in September 1845.

Queen Victoria granted the Royal Charter to the university in 1845 and sovereigns have been patrons ever since, visiting the university in every reign. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales became President in 1982.

The college gained full university status in 2013.^[7] It had 1,185 students in the 2014/15 academic year^[1] and has seen a 49% rise in applications between 2008 and 2013.^[8] The Royal Agricultural University was named the safest university in the South West in 2013,^[9] and is ranked top in the UK for facilities spend.^[10]

Facilities

Construction of the main building, in Victorian Tudor style, began in April 1845, was designed by SW Daukes and Hamilton, and built by Thomas Bridges of Cirencester.^[11]

Farms

The university operates two farms:

• Coates is predominantly arable cropped with some pasture land supporting equine activity; one set of farm buildings provides polo and hunter livery stabling and associated exercise facilities.
• Harnhill Manor Farm was purchased in 2009 and consists of around 491Ha of land. The farm was managed organically for many years but all the land apart from the outdoor-pig unit was taken out of organic management. The farm carries a 150-sow outdoor pig herd, managed as a joint venture with a business partner, alongside a 350-ewe breeding flock. Arable cropping is rotated with forage crops grown to support the livestock enterprises.^[12]

In 2011, an old sheep shed at the front of the farm complex was turned into the 'Rural Innovation Centre' a building designed for the training of students and members of the public in vocational skills such as rough-terrain forklift truck driving, blacksmithing, chainsaw and welding course, etc. The building cost £1.2 Million to transform.^[13] The RIC was officially opened in March 2014 by Sir John Beddington and the site was visited in November 2013 by HRH Prince Charles.

The university also uses numerous farms including a dairy enterprise at nearby Kemble Farms, and Fossehill Farm which provides stabling and exercise facilities. The RAU also uses numerous estates and businesses, both locally and further afield, for visits and practical exercises. Students have full access to the physical and financial data generated by the various enterprises and this is used in project work for a wide range of subjects, from practical livestock and 'crop husbandry', to conservation and farm woodland management, farm buildings, equine enterprise diversification, and rural business management.

Sport

The RAU is one of just three remaining British universities that maintains their own beagle pack. Founded in 1889, the RAC Beagles is run by the students, who whip in and hunt the hounds, and until the 2004 ban, hunted hares in the countryside around Cirencester.^[14]

The university has a range of sports facilities on campus; including a gym, an all-weather pitch, and squash and tennis courts, and offers a wide variety of sports and clubs for students to join; clay pigeon shooting, climbing, cricket, equestrian, football, golf, hockey, lacrosse, netball, polo, racing, rugby, running, sailing, scuba diving, ski and snow boarding, team chasing, tennis, and wakeboarding.^[15]

Research

In the REF 2014, the university came 29th and last in the UK for Agriculture. Some of the staff have been evaluated in the Research Assessment Exercise which recognised the importance of their research at national and, to a lesser extent, international levels.^[16]

Library

The university library holds around 40,000 print volumes, nearly 1,000 current journal subscriptions, more than 40,000 e-books and a growing number of full-text databases. The main collection is supplemented by a support collection and a historical collection of texts, primarily on agriculture and estate/land management, dating back to the 16th century. The library also holds the RAU archive, a collection of documents relating to the institution since its foundation.

Notable people

Staff

James Buckman was professor of geology, botany, and zoology from 1848 to 1863.

John D. Custance was professor of agricultural science in the late 1870s, later was responsible for establishing Roseworthy Agricultural College in South Australia.^[17]

John Scott, on the staff shortly from 1880, later became known as a tractor pioneer.

Sir Emrys Jones, former chief adviser to the Minister of Agriculture from 1967 to 1973, and director of the Government's Agricultural and Development Advisory Service (ADAS), was Principal of the college from 1973 until 1978. He described his time at Cirencester as the most enjoyable period in his life^[18] In 2011, a new teaching facility at the college was named in his honour.^[19] For university applicants with a connection to Wales, a scholarship has been set up that carries the former principal's name.^[20]

Alumni

Royal Agricultural University graduates have won a number of awards and prizes, including the Farmers Weekly Young Farmer Of The Year Award (James Price 2009^[21] and Adrian Ivory 2008^[22]).

Notable students from the institution include:

• 

  James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn

• 

  UKIP MEP Stuart Agnew

• 

  Conservative MP Richard Benyon

• 

  Irish Cabinet Minister Simon Coveney

• 

  England Rugby player Tim Payne

References

External links

• Official website