History of Bicton College

Bicton owes its name to a sixth century Saxon Chief – Beocca - who first colonised the area.  Coupled with the Saxon word ‘tun’ meaning 'fortified hamlet', this combination was to give rise to many versions of the name over the centuries - including Bechatona, Buketon, Bukynton, Bukyngton and Buckington.

Bechatona can be found in the Domesday Book for 1083, where the manor is recorded as having sixteen acres of meadow with eight acres of woodland.  It had been given by King William to one of his adjutants, William Portitor in return of his holding the office of Gatekeeper of the Prison at Exeter Castle.

With Bicton expanding into a thriving medieval community, and ties with Exeter jail continued through several generations of families up until the eighteenth century, by which time the house (then a Tudor mansion) has passed in to the possession of Sir Henry Rolle of Stevenstone - thus beginning Bicton’s long connection with this powerful land-owning family. The present Georgian house was constructed between 1730 and 1780 by descendants of Sir Henry’s – Dennys Rolle completed the house, whilst the gardens were laid out and the estate landscaped by his brother Henry, 1st Baron Rolle.

John, 2nd Baron Rolle and son of Dennys, created the arboretum in 1830. Twenty years earlier, he had used Napoleonic prisoners of war to build the magnificent lake that still graces the front of the house. He married twice, his second wife being Louisa Trefusis, the daughter of Baron Clinton. John Rolle died childless in 1842 and the Bicton estates went to his wife’s great nephew, the Hon. Mark Trefusis, who was the second son of Baron Clinton. In 1852 he assumed – by Royal Licence – the name and arms of the Rolle family.

Mark Trefusis was responsible for the look of the estate as we know it today.  He planted the avenue of Chile Pine (‘Monkey Puzzle’) trees and it is to him that we are indebted for the Hermitage, Shell House and Orangery, now part of Bicton Park and Botanical Gardens.  When Mark died in 1907, the manor went to his nephew, Charles 21st Baron Clinton, who was to guide Bicton into a modern but less settled age that included two World Wars and the eventual transformation of his property into a college of agriculture.  Leading national figures of the era – such as Sir Winston Churchill – visited the house during this time, and George VI, who was a personal friend of the Clinton family, spent part of his honeymoon at Bicton House.

In 1914, like so many country houses during the Great War, Bicton became a military hospital and for four years provided care for sixty wounded soldiers.  Throughout the Second World War, a preparatory school was evacuated here for the duration, thus heralding Bicton’s eventual role as an educational establishment.

Once victory had been assured in the Second World War, thoughts at home could be turned towards peace and the resettlement of those returning from the Services.  In 1945 Devon County Council’s Agricultural Executive Committee (under its chairman George Hayter-Hames) received instructions from the Ministry of Agriculture to find a large house and farm which would be suitable for use as a Farm Institute to train ex-servicemen and women in agriculture as part of a rehabilitation programme.

When Charles Clinton came to hear of the Council’s requirements, he immediately offered the use of Bicton House.  He and Lady Clinton had reluctantly come to the decision that it would be impossible to maintain such a large place in the conditions following the war and what more fitting use could be found for their home than the training of men and women for the land?  Preparations were soon under way to set up what was to be known initially as the Bicton Farm Institute and, by the first week of January 1947, academic staff were able to welcome Bicton’s very first (six month) course – that of twenty-five girls of the Women’s Land Army from all over Britain. Their course was to include Dairying, Poultry Keeping, Horticulture and Rural Domestic Economy.

The Land Girls were followed by the first Ex-Services Course which was to run from September 1947 to July 1948, the full academic year.  Students totalled sixty in all – 40 men and 20 women.

In the early 1950’s a survey showed that more than 80% of students returned to farms after they finished at Bicton, 12% did their National Service and 5% went on to further education elsewhere.  Devon County Council considered the venture successful enough to complete the outright purchase of the House and Estate in 1956 from Clinton Devon Estates, which now managed the property on behalf of Lord Clinton.

In 1968 the Barratt Teaching Wing was built to the north of Bicton House, comprising four demonstration rooms on the ground floor together with toilet and cloakroom accommodation.  On the first floor were two Science laboratories with three classrooms.

1967 saw another change of name to Bicton College of Agriculture along with much building activity.  Phase Two of the Expansion Programme got under way at the beginning of the decade - Phase One being the teaching block completed in 1968. Phase Two comprised:

• Residential Accommodation with 64 study-bedrooms
• An Assembly Hall, named after Sir George Hayter-Hames - chairman of the Devon War Agricultural Executive Committee which established the College in 1947 and a tireless worker on its behalf.
• A new Horticultural Unit including a glasshouse.
• An Agricultural Machinery Workshop of 3000 sq ft.
• Associated car parking to serve all these buildings.

 

Noteworthy building activity of the 1980’s included the completion of the Swimming Pool in 1981 and the restoration of Sidmouth Lodge at the main entrance in 1987.

1993 saw what was undoubtedly the most significant event in the College’s history since its foundation in 1947.  Bicton College was taken out of control of Devon County Council following the Further and Higher Education Act of 1992 and became a Further Education Corporation and an Exempt Charity with a new smaller Board of Governors to take over the responsibility of its operational and financial management.  All assets previously owned by the County Council were transferred to the Board which henceforth became the employer: thus the College was able to appoint its own bankers, solicitors, auditors, property advisors and insurance brokers.  Funding to operate the College is now generated by the running of full-time, part-time and short courses at Bicton College itself.  A range of commercial activities – including the farm – were also offered, with the campus becoming a popular location for outdoor activities, summer schools and even SAGA holidays.

In October 2002, Bicton College of Agriculture became simply Bicton College – to reflect the changing needs of both the agriculture industry and the countryside in England and to place itself in the position of being able to respond to the future education and training needs of young people and adults in the South-West.

The large amount of building at Bicton College over the past few years has included 112 new Single Study ensuite bedrooms and a new Learning Resource Centre linked to a complete refurbishment of the Barratt Wing and Hayter-Hames Building.  A new outdoor manege and stables for the Equine Centre, an all weather sports pitch and other new, smaller buildings have also been added.  1996 saw the launch of The Bicton Appeal to raise funds for a Sports and Recreation Centre to serve both the College and the community.  In October 1999 a new veterinary centre was opened to become a National Training Centre for Veterinary Nurses.

Today, the College recruits over 1,000 full-time students annually, plus 3,500 part-time and short-course students, with around 250 students living onsite in College accommodation.  The range of programmes currently covers Agriculture, Animal Care, Arboriculture, Business Studies, Countryside Management, Engineering and Mechanisation, Equine Studies, Floristry, Horticulture, Outdoor Leisure, Sports Studies and Veterinary Nursing.