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Aberystwyth University

  • nb2008023681
  • Corporate body

Established in 1872, the University College of Aberystwyth was a founding member of the former federal University of Wales. Its establishment was prompted by the inadequacies of the further education system in Wales during the nineteenth century. The main concern was the absence of a university, apart from the country's various theological colleges. The campaign for a university began in the early 1850s, but was sidetracked by the foundation of a teaching college in Bangor. In 1863, it was revived by one of the university's most prominent supporters, Sir Hugh Owen. As leader of the campaign, he felt that its failure to capture the public imagination had caused great damage and that by this point the establishment of a university was a matter of great urgency.

In 1867, Owen and his collaborators made a decisive move and bought, with the little money they had raised, an unfinished, recently bankrupted hotel on the Aberystwyth sea front. It was hoped that the physical existence of a home for the university would encourage people to join the campaign. Appeals were made to the public for personal contributions and the people of Wales, especially the inhabitants of Aberystwyth, quickly responded. As a result of this popular effort in collecting 'the pennies of the poor', the university finally did become a reality. It opened at what is now the Old College, in 1872, with a mere 25 students and was formally incorporated by Royal Charter in 1889.

The University's initial mission was limited - merely the establishment in Wales of a non-denominational university to bring education to the masses. The first Principal, Thomas Charles Edwards (1872-91), saw the university through its infancy. He steered it through the disastrous implications of the 1881 Aberdare report on Intermediate and Higher Education in Wales, ensuring its survival despite the establishment of University Colleges in Bangor for North Wales and Cardiff for South Wales. 1894 saw the unification of all three colleges into the University of Wales. Edwards also ensured that the college survived the testing times that followed the fire of 1885, co-ordinating the resultant re-building programme.

Subsequent years saw a continuous increase in both students and members of staff at Aberystwyth. The range of subjects taught also rapidly expanded. Halls of residence and new facilities were being built and student societies were also appearing and developing, providing a busy social life for Aberystwyth students. The work of academic departments also developed from the original remit of teaching students, to the conduction of ground-breaking research noted on both a national and international scale. Today, the University of Wales Aberystwyth has over 7,000 registered students, including over 1,100 postgraduates, across eighteen academic departments.

As of the 1st of October 2007, the University of Wales, Aberystwyth changed its name to Aberystwyth University. The Privy Council has approved Aberystwyth University's new charter and statutes which includes powers to award its own degrees. Despite the name change, Aberystwyth University will continue to award University of Wales degrees and the new status does not, in any way, affect degrees awarded to past students or the programmes being followed by current students.

Aberystwyth (Wales : Borough)

  • Corporate body

Aberystwyth, Cardiganshire, became a town and a borough in the 13th century (there is a charter of 1277). Until 1834, when the borough was reconstituted, the town was governed by a court leet, which met twice a year. Its main functions were the admittance of new burgesses, the appointment of bailiffs, bellmen, coroners, the chamberlains, town clerks, scavengers, and the hearing of presentments. The leet was also responsible for the management of paving, cleansing and lighting within Aberystwyth. In 1780, an Act was obtained to repair, enlarge and to preserve Aberystwyth Harbour. The Harbour Committee became responsible for the harbour in 1873. In the 1850s, the borough established its own Burial Board to administer the local cemeteries. The public library was established around 1874. From 1835, Improvement Commissioners oversaw lighting, sanitation and water supply.

Aberystwyth (Wales). Borough Council

  • Corporate body

Aberystwyth was one of a number of towns across England and Wales which established an elected borough council in the wake of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. Another local Act, passed in the same year, saw the establishment of Town Improvement Commissioners whose responsibilities included lighting, sanitation and the supply of water for Aberystwyth. In 1837 a reservoir was built at Brynymor Dingle and, following the drought of 1844, additional supplies were obtained by tapping springs near Plas Crug. Water was pumped to Brynymor by a steam pump, a system which remained until the 1880s.

A new waterworks was built to meet increasing demand following the Aberystwyth Improvement and Water Act of 1872, and in 1873 the powers of the Town Improvement Commissioners were transferred to the Council. The Brynymor Reservoir and other existing sources proved inadequate in supplying the town's growing population and the Council decided to transport water from Llyn Llygad Rheidol to Aberystwyth through a line of underground pipes from 1880. During the 1930s corrosion in the pipes affected this supply. The Aberystwyth Rural District Council (RDC), which was experiencing a shortage of supply in its own area, offered to contribute to the cost of renewing the pipes in exchange for a supply of water, but this scheme was rejected by the Borough Council. The Aberystwyth Rural District Council Act 1937 enabled the RDC to obtain water from the Llyn Craig y Pistyll reservoir instead, built c. 1877, and later provided additional supplies to the borough during the Second World War. Water shortages in the summer months by 1960 compelled the Borough and Rural District Councils to plan the transportation of water from Llyn Llygad Rheidol to Llyn Craig-y-Pistyll and on to the new filter plant at Bontgoch. Work on this scheme was completed in 1967 by the Cardiganshire Water Board which was formed in 1962 and administered the water supply for the town and surrounding area. This, in turn, was taken over in 1974 by the Welsh Water Authority.

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