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UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON
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University
College London, commonly known as UCL, is one of the colleges that make up
the University of London. There are
almost 25,000 staff and students at UCL, making the college larger than most
universities in the United Kingdom. It is also one of the oldest higher
education institutions in the UK and
a member of the Russell Group of Universities. This is a self selected group
of the 19 largest research led UK universities. The criterion for membership
is generally the size of a university's research budget. The Russell Group is
a political lobby. Within the Russell
Group UCL is part of the 'G5' sub-group of 'super-elite' universities, along
with Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, and
Imperial College, London. UCL consistently ranks among the top 5 universities
in the UK league tables. It has an annual turnover of over £450m, and
accounts for more than 40% of the Russell Group's research funding. The main part of the college is located in Bloomsbury, central London, on Gower Street. The nearest underground stations are Euston, Euston Square, and Warren Street. |
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The portico of the main building of UCL. The
silhouette of the pediment and cupola, supported by the letters UCL are used in the college’s logo. |
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"The London University" as drawn by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd and published in 1827/28. This is the main building of what is now UCL. The print is reproduced with permission |
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The college was
the first UK higher education institution to accept students of any race or
religious or political belief. It was possibly the first to accept women on
equal terms with men (the University of Bristol also makes this claim - as
both admitted students to University of London degrees at the same time, it
is quite possible that this was a simultaneous action). In 1907 the
University of London was reconstituted and many of the colleges, including
UCL, lost their separate legal existence. This continued until 1977 when a
new charter restored UCL's independence. Charter
(Constitution) Even today UCL
retains its strict secular position, and unlike most other UK universities
has no Christian chaplaincy or Muslim prayer rooms. Due to this policy UCL
has also been known as "the godless institution of Gower Street". UCL Union repeats
this policy, and is also constitutionally forbidden from being tied to a
political party. Candidates for positions cannot campaign on party tickets,
to which one might attribute the
repeated descriptions of UCL as relatively 'apolitical', especially in contrast
to nearby institutions like LSE. However the reputation for being relatively
apolitical may just reflect the ethos of the college. It is somehow
characteristic of UCL that on their website you are invited to look at some
‘views’ of the college. These are not, as one might expect, photographs of
UCL’s buildings or gardens or of its facilities, they are photographs
submitted by members of UCL which
represent their individual interests. UCL is slightly eccentric in a wholly
positive sense. An example of this is the way in which the rather bizarre
will of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham has
been respected. |
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Jeremy Bentham The philosopher
Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832) is considered to be the spiritual father of UCL,
as he played a major role in the development of the college. Whilst he is
often credited with founding the college, Jeremy Bentham played no part in
the establishment of the institution. He was a strong
advocate for making higher education more widely available, and is often
linked with the University's early adoption of a policy of making all courses
available to anyone regardless of gender, religion or political beliefs,
provided they could pay the fees. A further reason
for Jeremy Bentham's fame within UCL is due to the fact that his body is on
display to the public. Jeremy Bentham specified in his will that he wanted
his body to be preserved as a lasting memorial, and this instruction was duly
carried out. This 'Auto-Icon', as he called it, has become famous or, perhaps
one should say, notorious. |
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This case in University College London displays the skeleton and other remains of Jeremy Bentham, wearing Bentham's own clothes and carrying his stick 'Dapple'. The head is a wax recreation since the original head is somewhat decomposed (and was occasionally stolen by students), although it is still preserved in a vault nearby |
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Architecture UCL operates in
many separate buildings. Whilst most of the buildings are concentrated in the
Bloomsbury area of Central London (near Euston station), others can be found
as far away as Old Street. In 1985 the main Gower Street building was finally
finished - 158 years after the foundations were laid. The university's main
building was designed by William Wilkins who went on to build the National
Gallery.
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The main building of UCL designed by William
Wilkins |
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St George’s Hospital at Hyde
Park Corner, London. The original hospital was
built on this site by Viscount Lanesborough in 1719. This was demolished and
a new hospital, designed by William Wilkins, was built in its place. Building
was begun in 1827 and completed (after Wilkins’ death) in 1944. St. George’s
Hospital at Hyde Park Corner finally closed in 1976, when the hospital was
moved to a new building in Tooting. |
The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London,
also designed by William Wilkins |
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Oxford and
Cambridge Musical Club and UCL The London
based Oxford and Cambridge Musical
Club, which has been in existence for over a hundred years, seems to have
adopted UCL as part of a triumvirate of the UK’s oldest universities.
Membership is not in fact restricted
to those who are or have been members of Oxford and Cambridge Universities
and the OCMC have an informal association with the Chamber Music Club of UCL.
This enables the Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club to use either the Housman
Room (which is the Senior Common Room at UCL) or the Haldane Room for most of
their concerts. At the annual 'gala' concert to which the Chamber Musicians contributed, an ensemble from UCL also took part,
alongside other groups from Oxford University and from the OCMC itself. |
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Hayileybury College, Hertford, also designed by
William Wilkins. The large dome was added later in 1877 and was not a part
of, nor in proportion to Wilkins’ design. |
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At the annual 'gala' concert to which the Chamber Musicians contributed, an ensemble from UCL also took part, alongside other groups from Oxford University and from the OCMC itself. The concert was held in the Housman Room, which is a very pleasant spacious room in a style blending Victorian and more modern decor quite harmoniously. It was a freezing cold day in early March and we appropriated the huge red leather sofas which had been pushed to one side of the room and did not move from the Housman Room except when we had to. The rest of the building, at least the corridors, seemed to be verging on arctic. However the evening was a very pleasant one and we should like to express our thanks to the Oxford and Cambridge Musical Club for inviting us to take part in their concert and for their kind and welcoming hospitality, which included a buffet supper party. |
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Plan of UCL main building |
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Please click for:
Additional information OCMC 2005 - 07
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