, mottoeng = Show Thyself to be a Mother , established = 1850 (as St Mary's College)
2014 (gained

university status A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, ...

) , type =

Public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

, religious_affiliation =

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, endowment = £29.04 million , chancellor = Cardinal Vincent Nichols , vice_chancellor =

Anthony McClaran Anthony or Antony is a masculine given name, derived from the ''Antonii'', a '' gens'' ( Roman family name) to which Mark Antony (''Marcus Antonius'') belonged. According to Plutarch, the Antonii gens were Heracleidae, being descendants of Anto ...

, students = () , undergrad = () , postgrad = () , city = Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, London , country = United Kingdom , campus = Suburban , colours = Blue and White , academic_affiliations = Cathedrals Group
GuildHE
ACCU
IFCU , free_label = Affiliated universities , free =

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its royal charter in 1966, along with a number of other institutions following recommendations in the Robbins Report. The institu ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, website = , logo = sm-logo-crest-2014-rgb.jpg , logo_size = 120px , coordinates = St Mary's University, Twickenham is a

public university A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national universi ...

Strawberry Hill Strawberry Hill may refer to: United Kingdom *Strawberry Hill, London, England ** Strawberry Hill House, Horace Walpole's Gothic revival villa **Strawberry Hill railway station United States * Strawberry Hill (San Francisco), California *Strawber ...

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boro ...

, in South West London committed to the mission of the Catholic Church in higher education. Originally founded in 1850, and initially a college for training Catholic schoolmasters, it became a constituent college of the University of London

Institute of Education IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to ...

in 1949. This affiliation ended in 1976 and its degree courses were then validated by the

. Formerly called St Mary's University College, it was granted full university title by the

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mo ...

on 23 January 2014. Since July 2019, the university has hosted the ''Mater Ecclesiae College'', whose

Ecclesiastical faculties An ecclesiastical university is a special type of higher education school recognised by the Canon law of the Catholic Church. It is one of two types of universities recognised, the other type being the Catholic university. Every single ecclesias ...

enshrined since 2013 in the "Bellarmine Institute" was brought in after the closure of Heythrop College, University of London earlier in 2019.

History

Strawberry Hill House and the Chapel in the Wood

The university is built on land previously attached to

Strawberry Hill House Strawberry Hill House—often called simply Strawberry Hill—is a Gothic Revival villa that was built in Twickenham, London, by Horace Walpole (1717–1797) from 1749 onward. It is a typical example of the " Strawberry Hill Gothic" style of ar ...

, which was originally a small cottage in two or of land by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

Horace Walpole Horatio Walpole (), 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), better known as Horace Walpole, was an English writer, art historian, man of letters, antiquarian, and Whig politician. He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twi ...

, a son of the politician

Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, (26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745; known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole) was a British statesman and Whig politician who, as First Lord of the Treasury, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Lea ...

, rented the cottage in 1747 and subsequently bought it. He set about reconstructing the house and adding to the land, which now amounts to around . Walpole did not follow the conventional 18th-century fashion of classical building, but sought his inspiration from medieval styles, creating a notable early example of

neo-Gothic architecture Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

. Some of his contemporaries imitated his design; this house and the idea it embodied take their place in the history of architecture as "Strawberry Hill Gothic". By the end of the 20th century, Strawberry Hill House had fallen into a state of disrepair, with the cost of reversing its condition too substantial for the college to meet. The Grade One listed building had been registered as a building at risk by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

(now Historic England) in 1996, and in August 2002, the Strawberry Hill Trust was formed with a mission to restore the building and open it to a wider public. After the building was included in the 2004 World Monuments Fund Watch list of the world's 100 Most Endangered Sites and featured on the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

programme ''Restoration'', the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

awarded the Strawberry Hill Trust a £4.6 million grant in 2005. £370,000 development funding and £1.4 million of investment from St Mary's was also received, but finance still fell short of the projected £8.2 million cost of restoration. The shortfall was finally met in 2007 and in July of that year the lease was transferred from the

Catholic Education Service The Catholic Education Service (CES) is an agency of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW), whose object is the advancement of the Christian religion, primarily through education. History The CES has its roots in the ...

to the Trust. Restoration began in 2008 and the house was opened to the public in September 2010 following the completion of the first phase of the £9 million project. Near the porter's lodge is what

Bridget Cherry Bridget Cherry OBE, FSA, Hon. FRIBA (born 17 May 1941) is a British architectural historian who was series editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides from 1971 until 2002, and is the author or co-author of several volumes in the series.

and

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ( ...

describe as an "incongruous Walpole survival without its protective vegetation". The

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

Chapel in the Wood is a garden building designed in 1772 by John Chute and was completed in 1774 by Thomas Gayfere the Elder. It was restored in 1954 as a chapel to include a shrine of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, with new murals and

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

Harry Clarke Henry Patrick Clarke (17 March 1889 – 6 January 1931) was an Irish stained-glass artist and book illustrator. Born in Dublin, he was a leading figure in the Irish Arts and Crafts Movement. His work was influenced by both the Art Nouveau an ...

. The stained glass that Walpole housed within it is now at its original home at Bexhill Church, Sussex.

Foundation

St Mary's was founded in 1850 on the initiative of

Cardinal Wiseman Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. Born ...

. The Catholic Poor School Committee, which was concerned with providing primary education to children of poor Catholic people throughout the United Kingdom, purchased a former girls' school at Brook Green House,

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

, and adapted it for use as a college with accommodation for 40 adult male students. A legal trust created on 16 July 1851 in connection with this property and its use as a training college for Catholic schoolmasters was confirmed in perpetuity. The college was established on similar lines to that of the Brothers of Christian Instruction (''les Frères d'Instruction Chrétienne'') at Ploermel,

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, where English students were sent between 1848 and 1851. A French brother, Brother Melanie, was initially placed in charge of St Mary's College, until the appointment of an English principal, Rev. John Melville Glennie, in 1851. The college opened with six adult male students who had begun their training at the novitiate of the Brothers of Christian Instruction. It was expected that students would join the teaching religious order, however in 1854, in response to a shortage of suitably qualified candidates, the decision was taken to admit lay students to the college. In 1855, additional accommodation was provided for 50

lay Lay may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada *Lay, Loire, a French commune * Lay (river), France *Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community People * Lay (surname) ...

students, and by 1860 only lay students were attending the college. Catholic Church tried to found in 1873 a British Catholic University ( Catholic University College, Kensington) but this Institution failed and closed in 1882. With the appointment of the fourth principal, Father William Byrne CM in 1899, the association of the college with the Congregation of the Mission (usually known as the Vincentians) commenced. This inaugurated a period of change and augmentation, seen in the increase in staff and student numbers, the introduction of the office of Dean, and the extension of the college premises made possible by funding from the Catholic Education Council. At the same time the college was concerned with adjusting to the requirements of the Education Acts of 1902–3 and their effect on the development of elementary education. In 1898 Inter-College Sports were introduced between Borough Road, St Mark's, St John's, Westminster and St Mary's Colleges. The college magazine, ''The Simmarian'', began a new series in 1903–1904. Originally in manuscript form, it became a printed paper in 1905 and is still published today.

Early 20th century

By 1924 there were 129 resident students at the college. Recognising the limitations of facilities at Hammersmith, the Principal the Very Rev J J Doyle, CM, along with Sir John Gilbert and Sir Francis Anderton, negotiated the sale of the Hammersmith site to the neighbouring J. Lyons and Co. in 1922, and in 1923 the purchase of the Walpole-Waldegrave property at Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, from

Lord Michelham Baron Michelham (verbally Lord) , of Hellingly in the County of Sussex, was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 28 December 1905 for the banker, businessman and philanthropist Sir Herbert Stern, 1st Baronet. He was h ...

. The college moved to its Strawberry Hill site in 1925 despite the extensive new buildings, designed by S. Pugin-Powell, being at that point incomplete. It was not until June 1927 that the latter were officially opened. The new site provided accommodation for 150 students, with 190 students altogether. The majority of students were from England and Wales and entered according to Board of Education regulations. There were also a number of private students from 1925 onwards, including approximately 40 coming annually from Northern Ireland, as well as students from Malta, and brothers from England and Wales. Private students lived in accommodation separate from the college. Prior to 1928 the Certificate of Education course and examinations were jointly controlled by the Board of Education and individual training colleges. With the introduction of a new scheme for London teacher training colleges, the Board of Education retained its inspectorship functions, but delegated its authority over the courses and examination to the

. Under this scheme, the four resident male teacher training colleges in London (St Mary's, Strawberry Hill; Borough Road, St. Mark's and St. John's; and Westminster) were formed into a group under the supervision of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

(UCL). This group was jointly responsible with UCL for drawing up the syllabuses of the courses taught at the colleges, while the final examinations were designed to qualify students for the Certificate of Education awarded by the University of London. To direct the scheme, the Training College Delagacy was established, composed of representatives of the university, the teacher training colleges, religious denominations and local authorities. Meanwhile, two representatives of the University of London joined the governing board of St Mary's. In 1930, in addition to the Certificate of Education course and examination, degree courses were provided at St Mary's University College leading to a University of London degree for successful candidates. At the same time a one-year colonial course was established at the college to train Priests and Brothers destined to join overseas missions. In 1935, responsibility for this course was transferred to the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

After World War II

The college became a constituent college of the University of London

, inaugurated on 19 December 1949, and the incorporation of the college into the institute was formally approved by the Senate of the university in April 1950, the college's centenary year. In response to the increasing demand for teachers, it was agreed in 1959 to expand the college to 500 places. By 1966, there were 1,000 students. 1966 also saw the admission of the first full-time women students to the college. Other developments include the introduction in 1968 of an extra year's study for the conversion of the Teacher's Certificate to a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order f ...

degree, and in 1975, the first students pursuing the University of London

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

, Bachelor of Humanities and

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

. St Mary's association with the University of London came to an end in 1979. St Mary's degree courses were then validated by the

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

. Representatives from St Mary's College attended meetings of the University of Surrey Delegacy which was set up in 1980. In 1986 the first students of the college graduated with degrees from the University of Surrey. With the retirement of Fr. Desmond Beirne as Principal in 1992, the college's educational links with the Vincentians came to an end, although the post of chaplain was held by a Vincentian (Rev Perry Gildea CM) until 1996 and one teaching post in the Religious Studies department (Rev Michael Prior CM) until later. Fr Beirne was replaced in 1992 by Arthur Naylor, the college's first lay Principal.

Early 21st century

In 2006, St Mary's became a University College and was granted the power to award its own degrees by the

Privy Council of the United Kingdom The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

. In January 2014, St Mary's was granted university status, becoming 'St Mary's University, Twickenham'. The university maintains study-partnerships with other universities across the globe, including the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

, the University of St Thomas (Houston), St Mary's University, Halifax,

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

and the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...

. In 2020, St Mary's entered into historic partnership with

The University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of me ...

. On 17 September 2010,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

visited St Mary's on the second day of his four-day UK state visit, the first Papal visit to the country since

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited in 1982. On 1 October 2010, Philip Esler became the university's second lay Principal. During 2010 and 2011, existing sports facilities were refurbished and an additional complex was added. The resulting £8.5 million sports centre was opened on 27 October by Lord

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

, with

Tim Brabants Jules Timothy Brabants MBE (born 23 January 1977) is a British sprint kayaker who has competed since the late 1990s. Competing in four Summer Olympics, he won three medals with one gold (2008: K-1 1000 m) and two bronzes (2000: K-1 1000 m, 20 ...

, David Weir,

Rebecca Romero Rebecca Jayne Romero, MBE (born 24 January 1980) is an English sportswoman, a former World Champion and Olympic Games silver medallist at rowing, and a former World champion and an Olympic champion track cyclist. Early life and education Romero ...

and Dave Bedford in attendance; the latter two, both St Mary's alumni, were inducted into the St Mary's Hall of Fame for Sports.

London 2012 and beyond

Eighteen St Mary's athletes comprising current and former students and members of the University Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) participated in

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

in athletics (

Andrew Osagie Andrew Osagie (born 19 February 1988 in Harlow, Essex) is an English athlete who specialises in the 800 metres. He represents Harlow Athletic Club at club level and Great Britain at international level. He is the fourth fastest Briton of all t ...

and

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...

), rowing (

Moe Sbihi Mohamed Karim Sbihi (born 27 March 1988) is a British rower. He is a three-time Olympian and Olympic medal winner. He won a gold medal in the coxless four at 2016 Rio Olympics, and at the 2012 London Olympics he was in the British crew that wo ...

) and hockey. David Weir won quadruple gold in the 800m, 1500m, 5000m and Marathon at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Ga ...

. St Mary's was selected as a pre-Games training camp for the

by the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee and the

Olympic Council of Ireland The Olympic Federation of Ireland or OFI ( ga, Cónaidhm Oilimpeach na hÉireann) (called the Irish Olympic Council until 1952 and the Olympic Council of Ireland until 2018) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the island of Ireland. At ...

. Endurance squads from the Chinese and Japanese Olympic teams also elected to be based at St Mary's pre-Games training camp. Athletes and officials from those four countries were ultimately joined by others from another six countries: the US, Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, Denmark and Mozambique. The University College was granted full university title by the Privy Council on 23 January 2014, becoming St Mary's University. In July 2019 the ecclesiastical Faculties of Philosophy and Theology were transferred to St Mary's University and renamed "Mater Ecclesiae College" after their previous host institution, Heythrop College, University of London closed down.

Rio 2016

St Mary's saw 22 athletes attend both the

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and Paralympic Games in Rio, topping the record 18 selected for London 2012. The athletes contributed six medals to Team GB, ranking the university as the 25th most successful 'nation' on the medal table with three gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal. Medallists at the Games include distance runner and alumnus

. Elsewhere, rowers

and

Karen Bennett Karen Bennett (born 5 February 1989) is a British rower who competed both the 2016 Summer Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics. Rowing career Bennett's hometown is Edinburgh in Scotland. and she rows for the Leander Club. She was a member of the ...

achieved gold and silver, respectively. Other medallists included boxer

Joshua Buatsi Joshua Buatsi (born 14 March 1993) is a British professional boxer who held the British light-heavyweight title in 2019, and the WBA International light-heavyweight title between 2018 and 2021. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the light ...

, who achieved Bronze and

Simon Amor Simon Daniel Edward Amor (born 25 April 1979) is an English rugby union coach and former player. Amor played in the scrum-half and fly-half positions for London Scottish and captained the England national rugby sevens team. He has been the h ...

, who coached the Men's Rugby 7s squad to a silver medal.

Partnerships

St Mary's operates a number of partnerships with higher education providers, charities, sporting organisations, businesses, and religious organisations. Amongst these are The Royal Ballet, London Irish RFC,

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh The Archdiocese of Saint Andrews & Edinburgh ( la, Archidioecesis Sancti Andreae et Edimburgensis) is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in Scotland. It is the metropolitan see of the province of Saint Andrews and Edinbur ...

, Chelsea FC Foundation,

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main c ...

Union Theological College ''This page is about a college in Northern Ireland. For institutions with similar names, see Union Theological Seminary and Union School of Theology'' , mottoeng = ''“Buy the truth and sell it not”'' (taken from Proverbs 23:23) , establ ...

University of Notre Dame Australia The University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA) is a national Roman Catholic private university with campuses in and in Western Australia and Sydney in New South Wales. The university also has eight clinical schools as part of its school of med ...

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut Catholiq ...

, amongst many others.

Academic profile

St Mary's University, Twickenham has a highly rated (Ofsted outstanding) teacher training programme and a range of sport and health degrees. The university is made of up one Academic Faculty and three Institutes: * Faculty of Sport, Allied Health and Performance Sciences * Institute of Business, Law and Society *Institute of Education *Institute of Theology and Liberal Arts Staff are engaged in both national and international research, which was described as "world-leading in terms of originality, significance and rigour" in the most recent Research Excellence Framework (REF) St Mary's has over 10 research centres, including the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society which opened on the 5 May 2016. The university also runs a range of short courses and CPD sessions on weekends and during the evenings, including sport, health, nutrition and exercise. These are run by their Centre for Short Courses & CPD.

Chapel

The university's chapel, designed by Sir Albert Richardson, was built in 1962–63. Mass is held every Sunday morning and (during term time) on Sunday evening. During term times there is also a lunchtime Mass on weekdays.

Campus facilities

Students' Union

The

Students' Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to ...

(SU) was first housed in the original chapel and had a bar where the

Baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...

used to be. The SU was then moved to another building and the old chapel was converted into a lecture hall. After that SU building burnt down several years ago, the SU was moved to its current location in J-building. The building has a bar with screens for viewing sporting events, and the SU hall underwent £50,000 of refurbishment in 2011 to convert it into an SU common room. There are a number of regular events in the bar and SU common room, such as discos and quiz nights.

Refectory and Shannon Suite

In 2008 the

refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries. The name derives from the Lat ...

underwent a £4 million investment to create a larger seating area with new kitchen facilities and a conference centre. It officially opened on 17 April 2008. Named after Very Rev Gerald Shannon CM (Principal of St Mary's 1941–1948), the Shannon Conference Suite is above the refectory and consists of three conference rooms with AV provision.

Libraries

The university operates two library buildings in support of teaching and research activity, both operated by the Library Services department. The Main Library is at the centre of the Strawberry Hill campus, providing study and IT facilities as well has housing print resources for most disciplines active within the university. The Naylor Library, opened in 2015, is at 99 Waldegrave Road, Teddington and provides further multi-format study facilities along with print resources related to teacher training and Education programmes. It also houses the university's Doctoral College and associated facilities for postgraduate research students. St Mary's Library Services has a print book collection of approximately 115,000 volumes. In addition it provides access to around 120,000 e-books and 55,000 e-journals for staff and students.

Sport facilities

The facilities below are used by staff, students, professional athletes and teams and community groups. These facilities formed part of the pre-Games training camp used by Olympic athletes and officials from 10 national teams in the run up to

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

. In 1999, St Mary's acquired of land near

Teddington Lock Teddington Lock is a complex of three locks and a weir on the River Thames between Ham and Teddington in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England. Historically in Middlesex, it was first built in 1810. The limit of legal po ...

. This was named Teddington Lock Sports Campus and now features a mixture of playing fields, all-weather pitches and parking.

Sports centre

In 2011

Lord Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals ...

officially opened St Mary's new £8.5 million sports centre, which received £500,000 of National Lottery funding from

Sport England Sport England is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Its role is to build the foundations of a community sport system by working with national governing bodies of sport, and other funded p ...

. A new building was constructed to create a single centre linking new facilities to the existing tennis hall and original 1960s sports block, which underwent refurbishment in 2010. St Mary's Sports Village

The centre includes a fitness suite and a sports hall. The fitness suite has 35 fitness equipment stations. In addition to this, there is a separate strength and conditioning suite that consists of 10 lifting platforms. The sports hall caters for a range of sports, from 5-a-side football to sport specific training and competition as the hall consists of the following: * 6

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

courts * 4

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

lanes * 1

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

court * 1

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

court * 1

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

court

Sports hall

This multi-purpose facility, which underwent refurbishment in 2010, offers a variety of facilities suited to badminton, basketball, netball, mini tennis and a

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four outfield players and a goalkeeper). Other differences from football include a smaller pitch, smaller goals, and a reduced game duration. Matches are ...

and can also cater for cricket, korfball,

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

Tennis hall

The tennis hall is the largest indoor facility and houses a variety of courts. It has been used by several national and international sports teams including the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

and

New Zealand All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

teams.

Athletics track

In 2017 the track was renamed the Sir Mo Farah track. Athletes from SMRAC (St Mary's Richmond Athletics Club) who use the track and St Mary's Uni students attended the official opening where Mo Farah opened it. The six-lane, 400 m synthetic

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

is floodlit and can be used all year round. It was opened in 2005 and underwent resurfacing in 2010. In addition to being used by students, it is used by local schools, St Mary's Richmond Athletic Club and world class athletes connected to the St Mary's Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) including

Joanne Pavey Joanne Marie Pavey MBE (née Davis, born 20 September 1973) is a British long-distance runner and a World, European and Commonwealth medallist. She won the 10,000 m gold medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich, ten months a ...

Andrew Baddeley Andrew James Baddeley (born 20 June 1982) on The Wirral, Merseyside is an English middle-distance runner. Career He finished sixth in the 1500 metres final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg. He also competed at the 20 ...

and

Stephanie Twell Stephanie April "Steph" Twell (born 17 August 1989) is a British middle- and long-distance runner who competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and trains at Aldershot, Farnham & District AC. S ...

. In addition, the track has been used by

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt, , (; born 21 August 1986) is a retired Jamaican sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay. An eight-ti ...

, the Kenyan National Long Distance team and the Chinese Marathon squad. The track is

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The org ...

-certified and has the following features: * 6 × 400 m lanes * Throwing cage * Javelin and shot put areas * Long jump and triple jump areas (2) * High jump and pole vault landing areas * Steeplechase water jump and adjustable barriers

Dance studio

The studio has a

sprung floor A sprung floor is a floor that absorbs shocks, giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best kind for dance and indoor sports and physical education, and can enhance performance and greatly reduce injuries. Modern sprung floors ar ...

, a surround sound system, a galleried lighting system and mirrored wall. This facility is used for dance and drama performances, aerobic and fitness sessions, boxing and martial arts.

Gymnasium

The gymnasium is fully equipped to cater for academic and club use, including four trampolines. The floor is sprung, which allows for a full programme of gymnastics to be undertaken. The gymnasium is a multi-use facility and can cater gymnastics, trampolining, martial arts and fitness classes.

Grass pitches

St Mary's has over of playing fields on campus including a floodlit training area, two further training areas and a rugby pitch. Teams that have used these facilities include Harlequins Rugby League, the English, Irish and Australian rugby union squads and the New Zealand All Blacks.

Teddington Lock sports facilities

St Mary's also has extensive sporting facilities five minutes from the main campus at

: over of playing fields with changing and storage areas, showers and toilets.

Accommodation

St Mary's University has halls of residence, most of which are on the main campus, or within walking distance.

Halls of residence

* Lady Frances Court – De Marillac (known colloquially as 'New Halls')- Constructed in 2005 the De Marillac Hall is at the far end of the university's running track, adjacent to Graham, Wiseman and Doyle Halls. The three-storey building has 180 bedrooms, which are all single study bedrooms, with en-suite facilities along with utility kitchen/common rooms. There is also a lift access for disabled students. * Graham, Wiseman & Doyle – Named after the Very Rev Canon Thomas Graham DD (Principal of St Mary's, 1869–1899),

and the Very Rev James Doyle CM (Principal of St Mary's, 1921–1930), these conjoining halls are at the far end of the sports track. Each hall consists of single study bedrooms with shared bathroom facilities and utility kitchens on three floors. In addition, each of these halls has its own common room. The total number of rooms in Graham is 34, Doyle has 34 and Wiseman has 47. * Clive Halls – Study bedrooms on two floors, with shared bathroom and utility kitchen facilities. The total number of bedrooms in Clive 'S' is 19, while Clive 'T' has 21 bedrooms and Clive "U" has 21, accommodating a maximum of 62 students in total. * Cronin – Named after the Very Rev Kevin Cronin CM (Principal of St Mary's, 1948–1969), these halls were built in 1993. They have three floors consisting of 69 en-suite single study bedrooms with shared utility kitchens. * Cashin – Named after the Very Rev Thomas Cashin CM (Principal of St Mary's, 1969–1976), these are the sister halls of Cronin and are built in the same style. This smaller building also has en-suite single study bedrooms and shared utility kitchens. There are three floors and 22 bedrooms in total. * Old House – in the main building adjacent to the administration area, Old House has 114 single study bedrooms on three floors with shared bathroom facilities and utility kitchens. * Waldegrave Park Houses – These are Victorian houses at the south edge of the campus on a residential road. Also known as 'Waldegrave Park Hostels', they have been converted to provide cheap student accommodation. There are nine separate houses which vary in shape and size, offering accommodation of either single study bedrooms or shared study bedrooms. They all have shared bathroom facilities and utility kitchens, the total number of bedrooms in each hostel ranging from 5 to 12. * Benedict XVI House – St Mary's lay community, in Waldegrave Gardens. The community comprise staff and full-time students, pursuing a life centred around prayer in the Roman Catholic tradition, study and service.

Notable alumni

Clara Amfo Clara Amfo (born 22 May 1984) is a British radio broadcaster, television presenter, podcast host and voice-over artist. She is known for presenting her shows on BBC Radio 1. Early life and education Amfo was born in Kingston upon Thames in Lo ...

, Radio and television presenter *

Nihal Arthanayake Nihal Arthanayake (born 1 June 1971) is a Sri Lankan radio and TV presenter who broadcasts on BBC Radio 5 Live. Early life Nihal Arthanayake was born on 1 June 1971, to Theravada Buddhist, Sri Lankan parents. Nihal began his involvement in t ...

, Radio and television presenter *

Anna Maria Ashe Anna Maria Ashe (born August 1953) is a British television presenter, best known as a newsreader for the local news programme, ''London Tonight''. Announcing and newsreading in Scotland Anna began her career at Grampian Television in 1983 as a ...

, newsreader and television presenter * Robert Beck, actor * Dave Bedford, athlete *

, professional boxer and Olympic medalist *

Chris Chibnall Christopher Antony Chibnall (born 21 March 1970) is an English television writer and producer, best known as the creator and writer of the award-winning ITV mystery-crime drama ''Broadchurch'' and as a showrunner of the long-running BBC sci ...

, English playwright, television writer and producer *

Paul Clement Paul Drew Clement (born June 24, 1966) is an American lawyer who served as U.S. Solicitor General from 2004 to 2008 and is known for his advocacy before the U.S. Supreme Court. He established his own law firm, Clement & Murphy, in 2022 after l ...

, football manager *

Philip Don Philip Don (born 10 March 1952) is a former football referee and school headteacher from England. Don was originally from Sheffield but his teaching career took him south to Middlesex. He is counted amongst the top 100 referees of all time in a ...

, former football referee *

Francis Ebejer Francis Ebejer (28 August 1925, Dingli — 10 June 1993, St Julian's) was a Maltese dramatist and novelist. Francis Ebejer was the father of the Maltese painter Damian Ebejer Biography Ebejer studied medicine at the University of Malta b ...

, dramatist and novelist *

, four-time Olympic champion athlete * Gordon Gray, Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh * Tom Grennan, musician *

Toby Gold Toby Gold (born 27 September 1994) is an English wheelchair racer. He is classified as a T33 athlete and competes primarily in sprint events, winning the 100m gold in the 2016 European Championships and silver at the 2016 Paralympic Games. P ...

, Paralympic silver medallist * Stephen Henry, theatre director and producer *

Philip Hoare Philip Hoare (born Patrick Kevin Philip Moore, 1958) is an English writer, especially of history and biography. He instigated the Moby Dick Big Read project. He is Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton and Leverhulme a ...

, writer * Jonathan Holloway, theatre director and playwright *

Roger Jupp Roger Alan Jupp (born 1956) is a British Anglican bishop. He was the Bishop of Popondota from 2003 to 2005. He returned to parish ministry because of ill-health. Early life Jupp was born in London and brought up in Blackheath. He was educate ...

, Anglican Bishop of Popondetta *

John Junkin John Francis Junkin (29 January 1930 – 7 March 2006) was an English actor and scriptwriter who had a long career in radio, television and film, specialising in comedy. Early life Born in Ealing, Middlesex, the son of a policeman, he and hi ...

, actor * Lara Lewington, television presenter, journalist and former weather presenter *

Eamonn McCrystal Eamonn McCrystal (born 1 June 1987)Karen Scott, "Eamonn McCrystal – following his destiny," ''Tyrone Courier'', 22 August 2012. is a multi- Emmy Award winning Northern Irish pop tenor, TV host and producer based in Los Angeles, California. ...

, Northern Irish pop tenor and TV-radio host * James McEvoy, educationist * Tim Murtagh, cricketer * Michael Melia, actor *

Aled Miles Aled Euros Miles (born 23 May 1965) is a British-American information technology executive and internet security expert currently based in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. He currently serves as president and CEO and board member of Sa ...

, businessman *

Margaret Moran Margaret Mary Moran (born 24 April 1955) is a former Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. Moran was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Luton South from the 1997 general election to 2010. In November 2012, jurors at Southwark Crown Co ...

, Labour Party politician and criminal * Tom O'Connor, actor and comedian *

, Olympic

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

athlete * Emma Paton, sports journalist *

Gordon Pirie Douglas Alistair Gordon Pirie (10 February 1931 – 7 December 1991) was an English long-distance runner. He competed in the 5000 m and 10,000 m events at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics and won a silver medal in the 5000 m in 1956, placing fo ...

, athlete *

Pete Postlethwaite Peter William Postlethwaite, (7 February 1946 – 2 January 2011) was an English character actor. After minor television appearances, including in '' The Professionals'', his first major success arose through the British autobiographical fil ...

, actor * Les Reed, football coach *

, Olympic gold medallist * Shelley Rudman, Olympic

Skeleton A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of an animal. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside ...

medallist *

Nicola Sanders Nicola Clare Sanders (born 23 June 1982) is a former British track and field sprinter. She began her career as a 400 metres hurdles specialist before concentrating on the 400 metres from 2006 onwards. Her 400 metres personal best is 49.65 seco ...

, Olympic sprinter and hurdler *

, Olympic gold and bronze medallist

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

Jemma Simpson Jemma Louise Simpson OLY (born 10 February in Plymouth) is a British athlete who competes in the 800 metres and 1500 metres. She is a former British champion over 800m, winning both 2007, 2009 and 2010 British Championships. She was formerly c ...

, athlete * Georgia Steel, television personality and actress *

Richard Thorpe Richard Thorpe (born Rollo Smolt Thorpe; February 24, 1896 – May 1, 1991) was an American film director best known for his long career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Biography Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, Richard Thorpe began his ...

, rugby union player * James Tindall, Olympic

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

player *

, middle distance runner *

Christian Wade Christian Wade (born 15 May 1991) is an English rugby union footballer, and former American football player, currently playing as a wing for French Top 14 club Racing 92. Wade played for Wasps for seven seasons and scored 82 tries in Premier ...

, former

player and current

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player * Matthew Wells, Olympic

* Joe Wicks, fitness coach, television presenter and author

Notable faculty and staff

Cherie Blair Cherie, Lady Blair, (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Tony Blair. Early life and education Boot ...

CBE QC (Visiting professor in law) *

Sir Vince Cable Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet ...

(Visiting professor) * Monsignor Thomas Capel (Vice-Principal, 1854–58) * Seán Ó Faoláin (Lecturer, 1929–33) – Irish

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer who wrote his first two books while working at the college. *

Reginald C. Fuller Reginald Cuthbert Fuller (12 September 1908 – 21 April 2011) was ordained as a priest in 1931 by Cardinal Bourne, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, and appointed Canon (hon.) of Westminster Cathedral by Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor in 20 ...

(Lecturer, 1968–1972) – Previous Canon (hon.) of

Westminster Cathedral Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City o ...

Ruth Kelly Ruth Maria Kelly (born 9 May 1968) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bolton West from 1997 until she stood down in 2010. Previously, she served as the Secretary of State for Transport, ...

(Pro Vice-Chancellor) *

Mary McAleese Mary Patricia McAleese ( ; ga, Máire Pádraigín Mhic Ghiolla Íosa; ; born 27 June 1951) is an Irish activist lawyer and former politician who served as the eighth president of Ireland from November 1997 to November 2011. She is an academic ...

(Distinguished Professor in Irish Studies) * Mick Woods (Sports Lecturer/Athletics Coach) * Dominic Bruce (OBE, MC, AFM, KSG, Member of the Board of Governors of St Mary's College)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's University, Twickenham 1850 establishments in England Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities Catholic universities and colleges in England Educational institutions established in 1850 Twickenham University of Surrey