St. David's College
| Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan | |
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| Motto | Gair Duw Goreu Dysg (Welsh) |
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Motto in English
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The Word of God is the Best Learning (or Teacher) |
| Established | 1822 (Charter 1828) |
| Address |
College Street Lampeter Ceredigion SA48 7ED., Lampeter, Wales, UK |
| Campus | Rural |
| Colours | Black and Gold |
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University of Wales, Lampeter (Welsh: Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and given its royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with degree awarding powers since 1852, and the third oldest university institution in England and Wales after the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. In 2010 it merged with Trinity University College (under its 1828 charter) to create the University of Wales Trinity Saint David.
The university was founded as St David's College (Coleg Dewi Sant), becoming St David's University College (Coleg Prifysgol Dewi Sant) in 1971, when it became part of the federal University of Wales. With fewer than 2,000 students on campus, it was often claimed to be one of the smallest public universities in Europe.
When Thomas Burgess was appointed Bishop of St David's in 1803, he saw a need for a college in which Welsh ordinands could receive a higher education. The existing colleges at Oxford and Cambridge were out of the geographical and financial means of most would-be students.
Burgess had no Welsh connections; he was born in England in 1756 and, after Winchester and Oxford, he had short stays in Salisbury and Durham before being appointed to his first bishopric in Wales in 1803. Burgess intended to build his new college to train priests in Llanddewi Brefi which, at the time, was similar in size to Lampeter but ten kilometres from it and with an honoured place in the Christian history of Wales. When Burgess was staying with his friend the Bishop of Gloucester in 1820, however, he met John Scandrett Harford, a wealthy landowner from Gloucestershire, who donated the three acre (12,000 m²) site called Castle Field in Lampeter, so called for the Norman castle once contained in the field. This is the site on which the present University stands.
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