Royal Agricultural College

Royal Agricultural College
Motto	Latin: Avorum Cultus Pecorumque; (from Virgil's Geogics) "Caring for the Fields and the Beasts"
Established	1845
Type	Public
President	HRH The Prince of Wales
Principal	Professor Chris Gaskell (BVSc (Bristol), PhD (Bristol), DVR, MRCVS)
Location	Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK
Campus	Rural
Colours	Black, maroon, yellow
Website	rac.ac.uk

The Royal Agricultural College (RAC) is a higher education institution located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, UK. Established in 1845, it was the first agricultural college in the English speaking world . The College 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 the School of Real Estate & Land Management. The RAC also delivers teaching with university partners in China, the USA, and the Netherlands^{[citation needed]}.

History

The seeds of the Royal Agricultural College were sown in 1842, 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" . 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.

Construction of the College, in the Victorian Gothic style, began in April 1845. Queen Victoria granted the Royal Charter to the College in the same year and Sovereigns have been Patrons ever since, visiting the College in every reign. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales became President in 1984.

Farms

The college 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 is managed organically and carries a 150-sow outdoor pig herd, managed as a joint venture with a business partner, alongside a 2400-ewe breeding flock. Arable cropping is rotated with forage crops grown to support the livestock enterprises. The farm benefits from being in the Organic Entry Level Scheme^{[citation needed]}.

The College also uses numerous farms (such as a dairy enterprise at nearby Kemble Farms), 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.

Research

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.

Library

The college 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 college archive, a collection of documents relating to the college since its foundation.

Notable Faculty and Administrators

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

Notable Alumni

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

Notable students from the college include:

• Sir John Agnew, 6th Baronet
• Sir Euan Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, 3rd Baronet
• Derek Barber, Baron Barber of Tewkesbury
• Richard Benyon
• Alan Brooke, 3rd Viscount Brookeborough
• Julian Cayo-Evans
• Patrick Chichester, Earl of Belfast
• Geoffrey Clifton-Brown
• Michael Coulson
• David Cunliffe-Lister, 2nd Earl of Swinton
• Jonathan Dimbleby, television personality & political commentator
• Robin Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay
• Francis Egerton, 7th Duke of Sutherland
• James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Abercorn
• Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole of Hawaii
• Lord Nicholas Hervey
• Tim Heywood
• Timothy Kitson
• Sir Thomas Chapman, 7th Baronet
• John Lowry-Corry, 8th Earl Belmore
• John Lyttelton, 11th Viscount Cobham
• David Ogilvy, 13th Earl of Airlie
• Eleanor Anne Ormerod
• William Peel, 3rd Earl Peel
• Joseph-Xavier Perrault
• William Pleydell-Bouverie, 9th Earl of Radnor
• Charlotte Clark, internationally renowned racist as well as a well known Harper Adamas enthusiast
• Dwijendralal Ray Bengali poet and playwright
• Malcolm Sinclair, 20th Earl of Caithness
• John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer
• Owen Spencer-Thomas Radio and TV broadcaster and charity fundraiser
• Simon Coveney, Fine Gael TD
• James Stopford, 9th Earl of Courtown
• Jason Little, Australian rugby union player
• Ben Clarke, England, British Lions and Bath rugby union player
• Tim Payne, England, British Lions and Wasps rugby union player

'Notable' Fictional Alumni

• Basil Fawlty, fictional comedy hotelier is often seen wearing an RAC tie
• Hugo Horton, comedy character from The Vicar of Dibley is often seen wearing an RAC tie during episodes

External links

• Official website