The Royal Indian Engineering College (or RIEC) was a British college of

Civil Engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

run by the India Office to train civil engineers for service in the

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Public Works Department. It was located on the Cooper's Hill estate, near

Egham Egham ( ) is a university town in the Borough of Runnymede in Surrey, England, approximately west of central London. First settled in the Bronze Age, the town was under the control of Chertsey Abbey for much of the Middle Ages. In 1215, Magna ...

, Surrey. It functioned from 1872 until 1906, when its work was transferred to India. The college was colloquially referred to as Cooper's Hill and I.C.E. College (I.C.E. being an acronym for Indian Civil Engineering).

History

Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

was created in India in 1854, with responsibility for the construction of roads, canals and other civil engineering projects. It experienced difficulties in recruiting suitably qualified staff from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and in 1868 a scheme was proposed for a dedicated training college in England. The chief advocate of this scheme, and effective founder of the college, was Sir George Tomkyns Chesney. The India Office bought the Cooper's Hill estate for £55,000 in 1870; and the college was formally opened on 5 August 1872, with Chesney as its first President. The college educated about 50 students a year, who paid fees of £150 each. The curriculum included pure and applied mathematics, construction, architectural design, surveying, mechanical drawing, geometry, physics, geology, accounts, Hindustani, and the history and geography of India. By the late 1870s the college was training more civil engineers than were required in India; but, rather than scaling down its activities, Chesney broadened them. From 1878, the college began to train candidates for the Indian Telegraph Department. From 1881, it began to train candidates for non-Indian services, such as the Royal Engineers, the Egyptian Government, and the

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the li ...

. In 1885, the first

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

school in England was established at Cooper's Hill, with

William Schlich Sir Wilhelm Philipp Daniel Schlich (28 February 1840 in Flonheim – 28 September 1925 in Oxford), also known as William Schlich, was an eminent German-born forester who worked extensively in India for the British administration. As a professor ...

as the founding director. In the face of competition from new training facilities for engineers elsewhere (notably at the new "redbrick" universities), the college closed on 13October 1906.

Architecture

The principal building at Cooper's Hill was a mansion house erected c. 1865 for the unprincipled company promoter, Baron Albert Grant, to a semi-Gothic design by F. & H. Francis. The conversion of the house for educational use, the design of the interiors, and the addition of a new south wing (including a chapel) were undertaken by the architect Sir

Matthew Digby Wyatt Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (28 July 1820 – 21 May 1877) was a British architect and art historian who became Secretary of the Great Exhibition, Surveyor of the East India Company and the first Slade Professor of Fine Art at the University of Camb ...

Rugby football team

In its day, the college's rugby union team, referred to by its opponents as "Cooper's Hill", was one of the most prominent rugby clubs in England. In the 1870s, it produced a number of famous international players including Stephen Finney, Petley Price, W. C. Hutchinson, N. F. Macleod, and F. D. Fowler. By the 1890s, the team was deemed of medium strength, and a long way behind the form of its heyday. This was put down to boys leaving school earlier than they had previously, thus the team became composed of men who were physically smaller in stature and physique than their predecessors.Marshall, Francis, ''Football; the Rugby union game'', (1892) (London Paris Melbourne, Cassell and company, limited) It boasted the following internationals who played for their countries whilst attending the college: * Stephen Finney (''first capped 1872'') * Henry Marsh (''first capped 1873'') * John Davidson (''first capped 1873'') * Josiah Edward Paul (''first capped 1875'') * W. C. Hutchinson (''first capped 1876'') * P. L. A. Price (''first capped 1877'') *F. D. Fowler (''first capped 1878'') *F. Dawson (''first capped 1878'') *N. F. MacLeod (''first capped 1879'')

After closure

After the college moved out in 1906, the buildings stood empty until bought in 1911 by Baroness Cheylesmore for use as a private home.Brunel University - Coopers Hill, Runnymede
Later, the site became Shoreditch College of Education, a teacher's college specializing in handicraft education, before becoming the Runnymede Campus of

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June ...

(until 2007). The site was acquired in 2016 by the Audley Group for conversion into a retirement village, due to open in early 2019.

Cultural references

*The college is mentioned by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

in his novel '' Stalky & Co.'' (1899): one of the main characters, M'Turk, following schooling at the fictionalised

United Services College The United Services College was an English boys' public school for the sons of military officers, located at Westward Ho! near Bideford in North Devon. Almost all boys were boarders. The school was founded to prepare pupils for a career as of ...

, is supposed to be "going up for Cooper's Hill".

Presidents

* Lt Col. Sir George Tomkyns Chesney, 1872–1880 *Gen. Sir Alexander Taylor, 1880–1896 *Col. John Pennycuick, 1896–1900 *Col. Sir John Walter Ottley, 1900–1906

Other staff

Staff at the college included: * Calcott Reilly, Professor of Construction, 1872–1897The Royal Engineering College, Cooper's Hill (1871-1906)
/ref> * William Cawthorne Unwin, Professor of Hydraulics and Mechanics, 1872–1884 *

Arthur Herbert Church Sir Arthur Herbert Church (June 2, 1834 – May 31, 1915) was a British chemist, expert on pottery, stones and chemistry of paintings, who discovered turacin in 1869 and several minerals, including the only British cerium mineral. He was also a ta ...

, Lecturer in Organic Chemistry, 1888–1900 * Peter Martin Duncan, Lecturer in Geology and Mineralogy, 1872–1890 *

Harry Govier Seeley Harry Govier Seeley (18 February 1839 – 8 January 1909) was a British paleontologist. Early life Seeley was born in London on 18 February 1839, the second son of Richard Hovill Seeley, a goldsmith, and his second wife Mary Govier. When his fat ...

, Lecturer in Geology and Mineralogy, 1890–1905 *Lt George Sydenham Clarke, Professor of Geometrical Drawing, 1871–1880 *

Wilhelm Philipp Daniel Schlich Sir Wilhelm Philipp Daniel Schlich (28 February 1840 in Flonheim – 28 September 1925 in Oxford), also known as William Schlich, was an eminent German-born forester who worked extensively in India for the British administration. As a professo ...

, Professor of Forestry, 1885–1905 *

Alfred Lodge Professor Alfred Lodge MA (1854 – 1 December 1937), was an English mathematician, author, and the first president of The Mathematical Association. Alfred Lodge was born in 1854 at Penkhull, Staffordshire, one of nine children to Oliver Lodg ...

, Professor of Mathematics, 1884-1904"Prof. Alfred Lodge"
Obituary, ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are ...

''.

Nature Publishing Group Nature Portfolio (formerly known as Nature Publishing Group and Nature Research) is a division of the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature that publishes academic journals, magazines, online databases, and services in scie ...

. Retrieved 13 April 2014 *

Joseph Wolstenholme Joseph Wolstenholme (30 September 1829 – 18 November 1891) was an English mathematician. Wolstenholme was born in Eccles near Salford, Lancashire, England, the son of a Methodist minister, Joseph Wolstenholme, and his wife, Elizabeth, ''née' ...

, Professor of Mathematics, 1871–1889 *

Herbert McLeod Herbert McLeod, FRS (February 1841October 1923) was a English chemist, noted for the invention of the McLeod gauge and for the invention of a sunshine recorder. Biography McLeod was born in Stoke Newington on 9 Feb 1841 and died 3 October 1923 ...

, Professor of Chemistry * Charles Alfred Barber, botanist * William H. White, architecture * George Minchin, Professor of Applied Mathematics * Dietrich Brandis * Harry Marshall Ward, botanist * Horace Bell (engineer)

Alumni

* Ali Nawaz Jung Bahadur, engineer *

George Charles Beresford George Charles Beresford (10 July 1864 – 21 February 1938) was a British studio photographer, originally from Drumlease, Dromahair, County Leitrim. Early life A member of the Beresford family headed by the Marquess of Waterford and the thir ...

, photographer * Herbert George Billson, forester * John Boyle, politician * David Carnegie, explorer *Lt Col Sir

Peter Clutterbuck Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Peter Henry Clutterbuck (28 September 1868 – 20 December 1951) was a British colonial civil servant and expert in forestry conservation, who worked as the Inspector General of Forests to the Government of India. Early ...

, soldier and forester *

George Coles George Coles may refer to: * George Coles (Cambridge University cricketer) (1798–1865), English amateur cricketer * George Coles (politician) George Coles (September 20, 1810 – August 21, 1875) was a Canadian politician, being the first ...

, cricketer * John Davidson, rugby union player * Stephen Finney, rugby union international * Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer, botanist * Frederick Gebbie, civil engineer * Henry Guinness, civil engineer and banker * Charlton Harrison, civil engineer * William Hutchinson, rugby union international * Christopher Ling, cricketer *

Francis McClean Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Francis Kennedy McClean, (1 February 1876 – 11 August 1955) was a British civil engineer and pioneer aviator. Sir Francis was one of the founding members of the Royal Aero Club and one of the founders of naval aviatio ...

, civil engineer and pioneer aviator * Henry Marash, rugby union international * Arthur Edward Osmaston, naturalist * Bertram Beresford Osmaston, forester * Josiah Edward Paul, rugby union international *

Gervas Pierrepont, 6th Earl Manvers Gervas Evelyn Pierrepont, 6th Earl Manvers, MC, JP (15 April 1881 – 13 February 1955), known as Gervas Pierrepont until 1940, was a British nobleman, soldier, landowner and member of the House of Lords. Biography The eldest son of the Honoura ...

, soldier * Hugh Theodore Pinhey, soldier * Petley Price, rugby union international * Frederick Campbell Rose, civil engineer * Robert Scott Troup, forester * Frederick Sprott, cricketer and engineer *

John Claude White John Claude White (1October 18531918) was an engineer, photographer, author and civil servant in British India. From 1889 to 1908, White served as the Political Officer in Sikkim, then a British protectorate. As part of his remit, he also mana ...

, engineer and photographer * Trevredyn Rashleigh Wynne, railway executive

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

The reforms of the Indian Public Works Department
{{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1872 Educational institutions disestablished in 1906 Brunel University London Indian Civil Service 1872 establishments in England