Hadlow College

Hadlow College is a further and higher education college in Hadlow, Kent, England, with a satellite site in Greenwich. The curriculum primarily covers land-based subjects including Agriculture, Horticulture, Conservation and Wildlife Management, Animal Management, Fisheries Management, Equine Studies and Floristry. 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 at Sittingbourne 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 was occupied and its building adapted for Kent Farm Institute purposes. Grove End Farm, Tunstall, Kent was purchased in July 1919 to be run as the Institute's farm.

After the Second World War, the Kent Education Committee bought the remaining buildings of the former Swanley Horticultural College in Hextable, Swanley, 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. 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, for the establishment of a combined Institute. The Agricultural Department moved from Sittingbourne to the new site at Hadlow 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, officially opened the college.

In June 2010, the college was graded ''"outstanding"'' by Ofsted. It also received an "outstanding" grade for its residential care provision at its most recent Ofsted social care inspection.

Hadlow College

In 2009, Hadlow College was approached by Dover District Council and Kent County Council to develop the site of the former Betteshanger Colliery. The resultant scheme – Betteshanger Park – 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, re-establishing them as Ashford College and West Kent College (2014).

On 17 May 2019, Hadlow College become the first in the country to go into educational administration. 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.

* On 2 December 2019, Quinn Estates purchased the 299-acre Betteshanger Park from Hadlow College.
* On 1 January 2020, the education-related facilities of Hadlow College’s Mottingham campus transferred to Capel Manor College.
* On 1 April 2020, the education-related facilities of Hadlow College’s Canterbury site, as well as Ashford College, 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) 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 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, 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, 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 programme, in partnership with Charlton Athletic, 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, British politician and Conservative member of the House of Lords.
* Toby Buckland, gardener, BBC TV Presenter (Gardeners' World) and author
* Matthew Wilson (gardener), garden designer, writer, radio and television broadcaster and lecturer
* Nick Bailey, horticulturalist, garden designer, best-selling author, BBC TV Presenter (Gardeners' World), columnist and former Head Gardener at Chelsea Physic Garden
* David Domoney, horticulturalist, gardener, broadcaster ( ITV’s This Morning (TV programme) and Love Your Garden) and writer
* Nick Dunn, Managing Director of Frank P. Matthews, recipient of the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour (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 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, 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 1998.
* Nick Bailey, Head Gardener at Chelsea Physic Garden, silver gilt medal winner Chelsea Flower Show 2016. Author: 365 Days of Colour in Your Garden. TV Presenter: BBC Gardeners' World

References

{{Authority control

Further education colleges in Kent
Educational institutions established in 1968
Hadlow