Hadlow College is a
further
Further or Furthur may refer to:
* ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus
* Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band
* Furthur (band), a band formed in 2009 by Bob Weir and Phil Lesh
* ''Further'' (The Chemical Brothers a ...
and
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
college in
Hadlow
Hadlow is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is situated in the Medway valley, north-east of Tonbridge and south-west of Maidstone.
The Saxon name for the settlement was Haeselholte (in the Textus Roffens ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, England, with a satellite site in
Greenwich
Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross.
Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...
. The curriculum primarily covers land-based subjects including
Agriculture
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
,
Horticulture
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
,
Conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
and
Wildlife Management
Wildlife management is the management process influencing interactions among and between wildlife, its habitats and people to achieve predefined impacts. It attempts to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people using the best availabl ...
, Animal Management,
Fisheries Management
The goal of fisheries management is to produce sustainable biological, environmental and socioeconomic benefits from renewable aquatic resources. Wild fisheries are classified as renewable when the organisms of interest (e.g., fish, shellfish, am ...
,
Equine Studies and
Floristry
Floristry is the production, commerce, and trade in flowers. It encompasses flower care and handling, floral design and arrangement, merchandising, production, display and flower delivery. Wholesale florists sell bulk flowers and related sup ...
. Additionally, intermediate and advanced apprenticeships are offered in Golf Greenkeeping, Sports Turf, Agriculture, Horticulture and Land-based Engineering.
Origins and history
In 1919, a scheme of Agricultural Education for the County, which included the provision of a Farm Institute, was approved at a meeting of the Kent Education Committee.
Borden Grammar School
Borden Grammar School is a grammar school with academy status in Sittingbourne, Kent, England, which educates boys aged 11–18. A small number of girls have also been admitted to the Sixth Form. The school holds specialist status in sports.
H ...
at
Sittingbourne
Sittingbourne is an industrial town in Kent, south-east England, from Canterbury and from London, beside the Roman Watling Street, an ancient British trackway used by the Romans and the Anglo-Saxons and next to the Swale, a strip of sea separa ...
agreed to sell their property to the Kent Education Committee as soon as a new grammar school was built, but it was not until 1929 that
Borden Grammar School
Borden Grammar School is a grammar school with academy status in Sittingbourne, Kent, England, which educates boys aged 11–18. A small number of girls have also been admitted to the Sixth Form. The school holds specialist status in sports.
H ...
was occupied and its building adapted for Kent Farm Institute purposes. Grove End Farm,
Tunstall, Kent
Tunstall is a linear village and civil parish in Swale in Kent, England. It is about 2 km to the south-west of the centre of Sittingbourne, on a road towards Bredgar.
History
In 1798, Edward Hasted records that it had once been called ''Dunstal ...
was purchased in July 1919 to be run as the Institute's farm.
After the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the Kent Education Committee bought the remaining buildings of the former
Swanley Horticultural College
Swanley Horticultural College, founded in , was a college of horticulture in Hextable, Kent, England. It originally took only male students but by 1894 the majority of students were female and it became a women-only institution in 1903.
Early hi ...
in Hextable,
Swanley
Swanley is a town and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England, southeast of central London, adjacent to the Greater London boundary and within the M25 motorway periphery. The population at the 2011 census was 16,226.
History
I ...
, together with of land to form the basis of the Kent Horticultural Institute. Until 1949, this Institute was used as a training centre in horticulture for ex-service personnel under the supervision of the
Ministry of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
. In September 1949, the Education Committee took possession and the Kent Horticulture Institute was developed and run in parallel with the Kent Farm Institute.
In 1958, the two institutes were merged to form the Kent Farm and Horticulture Institute. Although the two departments were apart, this was the first step in bringing the two together. In the spring of 1960, of land was purchased from Bourne Grange Estate,
Hadlow
Hadlow is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is situated in the Medway valley, north-east of Tonbridge and south-west of Maidstone.
The Saxon name for the settlement was Haeselholte (in the Textus Roffens ...
, for the establishment of a combined Institute. The Agricultural Department moved from Sittingbourne to the new site at
Hadlow
Hadlow is a village in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is situated in the Medway valley, north-east of Tonbridge and south-west of Maidstone.
The Saxon name for the settlement was Haeselholte (in the Textus Roffens ...
in the summer of 1966, and the Horticultural Department in the summer of 1967. The Institute was then renamed Hadlow College of Agriculture and Horticulture. On 22 March 1968, His Royal Highness
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...
, officially opened the college.
In June 2010, the college was graded ''"outstanding"'' by
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
. It also received an "outstanding" grade for its residential care provision at its most recent
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
social care inspection.
Hadlow College
In 2009, Hadlow College was approached by
Dover District Council
Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
and
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is a county council that governs most of the county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council h ...
to develop the site of the former
Betteshanger
Betteshanger is a village near Deal in East Kent, England. It gave its name to the largest of the four chief collieries of the Kent coalfield. The population of the village is included in the civil parish of Northbourne.
Before the coal mine
...
Colliery. The resultant scheme –
Betteshanger Park
Betteshanger Park (formerly Fowlmead Country Park and Betteshanger Country Park) is a park near Deal, in Kent, England. It covers the site of a former colliery spoil tip.
History
This park is situated on the site of a former spoil tip of the ...
– was the outcome of four years of partnership working. The scheme was launched on 6 November 2013 at the House of Commons with work commencing on site in 2014.
On 1 August 2014, Hadlow College formally acquired the Tonbridge and Ashford campuses of
K College
K College, was also known as South & West Kent College, was an English college of Further Education and Higher Education with facilities across Kent, formed in April 2010, by the merger of South Kent College with West Kent College. In 2014 i ...
, re-establishing them as
Ashford College
Ashford College is a further education college in Ashford, Kent founded in August 2014. It has been run by EKC Group since April 2020, when it was acquired from the West Kent and Ashford College corporation. Susan Bonett became Principal of the ...
and
West Kent College (2014)
North Kent College is a further education and higher education college in Kent, England founded in 2014. Its campus in Tonbridge offers numerous courses and qualifications at many levels, from GCSEs and A-levels to vocational routes such ...
.
On 17 May 2019, Hadlow College become the first in the country to go into educational
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
. That same year, following a review by the Further Education Commissioner, it was recommended that the Hadlow College Group be split up and taken on by three colleges:
North Kent College, East Kent Colleges Group and
Capel Manor College
__NOTOC__
Capel Manor College is a special environmental college located in Enfield, London.
The College has six campuses across the capital, Brooks Farm (Leyton), Crystal Palace Park, Enfield, Gunnersbury Park, Mottingham and Regent’s Park. ...
.
* On 2 December 2019, Quinn Estates purchased the 299-acre
Betteshanger Park
Betteshanger Park (formerly Fowlmead Country Park and Betteshanger Country Park) is a park near Deal, in Kent, England. It covers the site of a former colliery spoil tip.
History
This park is situated on the site of a former spoil tip of the ...
from Hadlow College.
* On 1 January 2020, the education-related facilities of Hadlow College’s
Mottingham
Mottingham is a district of south-east London, England, which straddles the border of both the London Borough of Bromley and the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is located south of Eltham, southeast of Charing Cross. It is within the historic ...
campus transferred to
Capel Manor College
__NOTOC__
Capel Manor College is a special environmental college located in Enfield, London.
The College has six campuses across the capital, Brooks Farm (Leyton), Crystal Palace Park, Enfield, Gunnersbury Park, Mottingham and Regent’s Park. ...
.
* On 1 April 2020, the education-related facilities of Hadlow College’s Canterbury site, as well as
Ashford College
Ashford College is a further education college in Ashford, Kent founded in August 2014. It has been run by EKC Group since April 2020, when it was acquired from the West Kent and Ashford College corporation. Susan Bonett became Principal of the ...
, transferred to East Kent College Group.
* On 15 August 2020, the education-related facilities of Hadlow College, including Princess Christian’s Farm and the equestrian centre in Greenwich, and
West Kent College (2014)
North Kent College is a further education and higher education college in Kent, England founded in 2014. Its campus in Tonbridge offers numerous courses and qualifications at many levels, from GCSEs and A-levels to vocational routes such ...
transferred to
North Kent College.
* Currently Hadlow College is run by North Kent College who have campuses in Dartford, Gravesend and Tonbridge as well
Facilities
Set on a estate, Hadlow College enjoys many facilities. Its equine centre is listed within the London 2012 Training Guide and its animal management building, which opened in spring 2009, is amongst the best in the country.
Additional facilities on the estate include a fully functioning farm with a beef herd, breeding sheep and arable crops, and exotic species, variety of habitats for woodland and countryside management, stock ponds, hatchery, cross country equine courses together with international size arenas, glasshouse complex and a landscape training centre.
Broadview Gardens, the on-site visitor attraction, also plays an important role in College life. These of landscaped gardens provide an inspiration to the horticulture and garden design students, as well as being a useful area for them to practise their skills. It is also home to Sandell Lake. These gardens are constantly being updated and added to. For example, Hadlow College's garden, ''Full Frontal'', which won Gold at the 2007
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
The Hampton Court Garden Festival (formerly The Hampton Court Flower Show) is an annual British flower show, held in early July. The show is run by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) at Hampton Court Palace in the London Borough of Richmond u ...
and the ''VTB Capital Garden – Spirit of Cornwall'', designed by former student Stuart Charles Towner, which won Silver Gilt at the 2018 RHS
Chelsea Flower Show
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...
, were both re-created within the grounds.
National Centre for Reptile Welfare (NCRW)
The College is home to the National Centre for Reptile Welfare (NCRW), which opened in 2018, and is the first such centre of its type in the UK, bringing education, charity and the pet industry together. Run with The Pet Charity and developed in partnership with the Reptile & Exotic Pet Trade Association (REPTA), it provides refuge, rehabilitation and care for reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates, rehoming them to individuals and via a national network of retailers and wholesalers. The centre also provides undergraduate students with practical husbandry, care and non-invasive behavioural and husbandry research opportunities on a wide range of captive species, as well as access to recognised animal welfare and husbandry experts, such as Chris Newman.
Royal Borough of Greenwich Equestrian Centre
Formally opened in December 2013 by
The Princess Royal
Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...
, the Royal Borough of Greenwich Equestrian Centre offers full-time further and higher education, as well as part-time courses, in horse care and equine therapy.
Current courses include: Preparation for British Horse Society Stage 1 Award, Level 3 qualifications in Horse Management, Foundation Degree in Equine Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation and a full BSc (Hons) degree in Equine Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation. Facilities include: stables for 20 horses, a hydrotherapy pool, water treadmill, spa, indoor arena and outdoor arena as well as a paddocks and a horse-walker.
Hadlow Rural Community School
In September 2013,
Hadlow Rural Community School (a
mixed free school) was opened on the Hadlow campus. The first school in Kent to offer a farm-based secondary education for students aged 11 to 16, it began with 80 pupils, and has a maximum capacity of 330.
Charlton Athletic Football Academy
On 28 May 2014, the college announced that they would begin running a post-16
football academy
In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...
programme, in partnership with
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...
, from September at their main campus near Tonbridge, Kent. The college's football academy programme was previously run in partnership with
Tonbridge Angels and trials are held at various times every year to be able to field a squad to represent the college in regular competitions.
Notable alumni
*
Roger Bootle-Wilbraham, 7th Baron Skelmersdale
Roger Bootle-Wilbraham, 7th Baron Skelmersdale (2 April 1945 – 31 October 2018), was a British politician and Conservative member of the House of Lords.
He was educated at Eton College.
From 1972, Lord Skelmersdale and his wife Christine owned ...
, British politician and
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
.
*
Toby Buckland
Toby Neale Buckland (born 11 October 1969) is an English gardener, TV presenter and author, best known for being the main presenter from 2008-10 of BBC's long running flagship gardening programme ''Gardeners' World''.
In 2008 Buckland won RHS ...
, gardener,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
TV Presenter (
Gardeners' World
''Gardeners' World'' is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2022 series is the 53rd. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its e ...
) and author
*
Matthew Wilson (gardener) Matthew Wilson is a garden designer, writer, radio and television broadcaster and lecturer. He is a regular participant on Gardener's Question Time on BBC Radio 4.
He mainly works as a landscape designer but he is also a writer being a corresponde ...
, garden designer, writer, radio and television broadcaster and lecturer
* Nick Bailey, horticulturalist, garden designer, best-selling author,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
TV Presenter (
Gardeners' World
''Gardeners' World'' is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2022 series is the 53rd. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its e ...
), columnist and former Head Gardener at
Chelsea Physic Garden
The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries' Garden in London, England, in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to grow plants to be used as medicines. This four acre physic garden, the term here referring to the sc ...
*
David Domoney
David Martin Domoney, C Hort. FCI Hort (born 26 March 1963) is an English Chartered Horticulturist and celebrity gardener. He co-presents the TV gardening programme ''Love Your Garden'', alongside Alan Titchmarsh, and is the resident gardene ...
, horticulturalist, gardener, broadcaster (
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
’s
This Morning (TV programme)
''This Morning'' is a British daytime magazine programme that is broadcast on ITV1. It debuted on 3 October, 1988 and is broadcast live every weekday from 10:00am to 12:30pm across the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The programme featu ...
and
Love Your Garden
''Love Your Garden'' is a British lifestyle gardening programme that was first broadcast on ITV on 10 June 2011. The show is hosted by Alan Titchmarsh alongside co-presenters David Domoney
David Martin Domoney, C Hort. FCI Hort (born 26 Ma ...
) and writer
* Nick Dunn, Managing Director of Frank P. Matthews, recipient of the RHS
Victoria Medal of Honour
The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society.
The award was established in 1897 "in per ...
(VMH) 2017
* Garth Clark, Managing Director of Holt Farm, the family farm of
Yeo Valley (company)
* Charles Tassell, Director, Kent County Agricultural Society; Chairman, Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution (RABI)
* Bethany Williams & Stuart Charles Towner, Garden Designers, winners of an RHS
Hampton Court Palace Flower Show
The Hampton Court Garden Festival (formerly The Hampton Court Flower Show) is an annual British flower show, held in early July. The show is run by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) at Hampton Court Palace in the London Borough of Richmond u ...
2015 gold medal and ‘Best in Show’ garden for 'Green Seam’
Notable Former Staff
*Bruce Macdonald, Former Director of the Botanical Garden at the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...
, developer of the internationally acclaimed Plant Introduction Scheme of the Botanical Garden (PISBG), former secretary of the Great Britain and Ireland region of the International Plant Propagators' Society (IPPS) and recipient of the RHS Gold
Veitch Memorial Medal
The Veitch Memorial Medal is an international prize issued annually by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
Goal
The prize is awarded to "persons of any nationality who have made an outstanding contribution to the advancement and improvement o ...
1998.
* Nick Bailey, Head Gardener at
Chelsea Physic Garden
The Chelsea Physic Garden was established as the Apothecaries' Garden in London, England, in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries to grow plants to be used as medicines. This four acre physic garden, the term here referring to the sc ...
, silver gilt medal winner
Chelsea Flower Show
The RHS Chelsea Flower Show, formally known as the ''Great Spring Show'',Phil Clayton, ''The Great Temple Show'' in ''The Garden'' 2008, p.452, The Royal Horticultural Society is a garden show held for five days in May by the Royal Horticultural ...
2016. Author: 365 Days of Colour in Your Garden. TV Presenter:
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
Gardeners' World
''Gardeners' World'' is a long-running British gardening programme, first broadcast on 5 January 1968. The 2022 series is the 53rd. Its first series was presented by Ken Burras and came from Oxford Botanical Gardens. Up until 2020 most of its e ...
References
{{Authority control
Further education colleges in Kent
Educational institutions established in 1968
Hadlow