Goldsmiths' College

The New Cross site which now houses the Goldsmiths' College, University of London, started life in 1843 as the Royal Naval School, a boarding school for the sons of officers in the Royal Navy and Marines. In 1889 the property was sold to the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths for £25,000 and was re-opened by the Prince of Wales in July 1891 as the 'Goldsmiths' Company's Technical and Recreative Institute', though it was always known simply as the 'Goldsmiths' Institute'. The intention of the Institute was the 'promotion of the individual skill, general knowledge, health and well being of young men and women belonging to the industrial, working and poorer classes', and broad subject teaching was supplemented by certificates and prizes awarded by the City and Guilds Institute, the government Science and Art Department, and the Society of Arts. Instruction was also given for London University pass degrees in Science. All this was generously funded by the Goldsmiths' Company, and by 1900 there were over 7,000 enrolled students, also attracted by thriving social, sporting and academic clubs and societies. The governing body of the Institute consisted of the Prime Warden and Wardens of the Company, 7 members of its Court and 6 co-opted members. The day-to-day running was left to a Secretary (the first being J.S. Redmayne) and 150 staff. Activities of the Institute included a School of Art and a series of evening classes and lectures.

1902 saw a new Education Act, which was followed by a London Education Act. To make certain of inclusion in any London educational scheme, and to prevent the Goldsmiths' Company from being subject to a local authority, a proposal was made to offer the Institute as a going concern to the Education Authority for London. In the end, the Institute was offered as a gift to the University of London, with the condition it was always used for educational purposes; the proposal was accepted in April 1904. Interim committees were set up to decide the future of the Institute, and in Autumn 1904 a new Goldsmiths' College Delegacy was created, which was responsible to the University of London Senate. The first Chairman of the Delegacy was Sir Edward Busk (1904-1919). The Warden was the only member of College staff in direct contact with the governing body. Much of the administrative work was undertaken by the two Vice-Principals. From this moment on, the Goldsmiths' College was divided into three functions: the Training Department, the School of Art and the Evening Department. It had already been decided that the Institute was to become a Teacher Training College, where students would take the two-year Certificate of Education course.

The Goldsmiths' College was formally opened on 29 September 1905. Constitutionally it was in an anomalous position, being owned by the University of London and having no legal or constitutional independence, whilst being funded by the Ministry of Education and the London County Council. The Delegacy maintained very little control over the various activities of the College as it did not pay for them, and the hope that the College would become a School of the University of London remained unrealised until 1988. At this point, Goldsmiths' College was the largest teacher training institution in the country, and the only one maintained by the University for teaching a two-year certificate of Education course. It was also permitted by the University to teach for University degrees (1907). Training functions were later expanded to include refresher courses for teachers, the University Postgraduate Certificate in Education and an Art teacher's Certificate course. The College also ran its own Nursery School. In 1947 the College became a Department of the London University Institute of Education; and in 1950, the decision was made that Goldsmiths' College students should no longer read for internal degrees of the University. The new Bachelor of Education degree was introduced in the early 1960s, and the Department was renamed the 'Department of Arts, Science and Education'.

The School of Art continued at Goldsmiths' College under the control of the London County Council, which decided to develop it in the direction of higher education in Art, as opposed to training for trade and crafts. The School claimed to provide advanced instruction in such subjects as drawing, painting, modelling, design, book illustration, etching and lithography. Under the headmastership of Clive Gardiner (1929-1958), the School of Art developed into a respected institution which produced a group of etchers known as the 'Goldsmiths' School'. During this period it began teaching the Art Teacher's Certificate course (1938). It began teaching painting and sculpture diploma classes in 1962, and textile and embroidery courses the following year. These courses were re-christened BA courses in 1975, and supplemented by degree courses in Fine Art and Art History. Most of the evening adult education courses offered by the Goldsmiths' Institute came to an abrupt end in 1905 after it was handed to the University of London.

The Science, Building and Engineering Departments, which all provided evening teaching for University degrees, remained outside the new teacher training remit, and struggled to survive without regular financial support from the University. From 1915 onwards, science teaching was concentrated in an Engineering and Building Department, though at a lower academic level than before. Following years of negotiations regarding technical training in east London, the Peckham and Lewisham Literary Institutes were merged on the College site in 1931, and reopened as the College's Evening Institute (known later as the Evening Department of Adult Education. The Evening Department flourished after the war, expanding its classes into a wide range of subjects, such as literature, music, drama, philosophy, science and history. The Evening Students' Association was extremely active in attracting new clients. In 1965, the Evening Department was renamed the 'Adult Studies Department', and changed its teaching emphasis to cater for the demand for more advanced work, such as part-time degree courses, Open University courses and postgraduate study. Another emphasis was put upon community education, exemplified by the creation of a Community Education Centre at Lee Green in 1973.

In 1976, an internal reorganisation led to the creation of five 'Schools', including a 'School of Education', which had to deal with a sharp reduction in the number of students, leading to its incorporation of St Gabriel's in Camberwell and the Rachel McMillan College in Deptford (1973-1977); the 'School of Adult and Community Studies'; and the School of Art. There was to be one single Academic Board for all five schools (a sixth was added 1980 when School of Adult and Social studies divided in two). Another major internal reorganisation occurred in 1986, with the six schools being compressed into three faculties and number of individual departments reduced by a series of amalgamations. The Goldsmiths' College was created a School of the University of London in 1988 (Royal Charter 1989) - though the possibility of a merger with Queen Mary College was mooted and discussed in 1984-1985 - on condition that it did not replicate teaching at other schools, but concentrate on its own specialisms. To this end Science teaching came to an end and the Science Department and the Rachel McMillan building were transferred to Thames Polytechnic.

The buildings which the Goldsmith's Company presented to the University of London had been erected to the designs of the architect John Shaw. They consisted of a rectangular building with two parallel wings surrounding a cloistered quadrangle which was closed by a building known as the 'school room'. A further quadrangle behind led onto the playing fields. Few alterations have been made to the original building: the quadrangle was roofed over in 1891 to create the Great Hall, the chapel converted into a lecture room in 1892, and the School of Art built on the second quadrangle in 1908. During World War Two, Goldsmiths' College moved to University College, Nottingham, though the School of Art remained in London and evening classes were suspended. The College buildings were severely damaged by bombing in 1940 and 1944. Full college activities were not restored until 1947. All students were housed in College hostels until well into the 1960s. Following the College's Jubilee in 1955, changes began to be made in the administration. The first Registrar was appointed in 1958. The government-led rise in student numbers led to new buildings being erected to accommodate them - these included the Education building and the Gallery (1968), the Warmington Tower (1969), a Student's Union extension (1975), a gymnasium and Craft block (1962), and the Whitehead Building (1968). The College also had the use of the Rachel McMillan building in Deptford (later given to Thames Polytechnic) and the Millard building in Camberwell (sold in 1988). A large part of the School of Art was housed in the latter until the building of a new library in the 1980s allowed it to return to the main site.