Queen Elizabeth II’s special connection with University of Exeter celebrated in new exhibition
This is a rare chance to see the document, and its accompanying large Royal seal
The special connection between Queen Elizabeth II and the University of Exeter is being celebrated as part of a new exhibition to celebrate 70 years since she awarded its Royal Charter.
The document gave the University of Exeter its title and university status. This is a rare chance to see the document, and its accompanying large Royal seal.
Also on display is the beautiful embossed congratulatory address given to the University of Exeter from the City of Exeter’s Mayor and Town Clerk, with the city’s seal, in December 1955 in recognition of the charter being awarded.
The exhibition shows the excitement of this Charter year and is made up of items found in the university’s Special Collections. This includes picture of the Queen’s visit to the new university and a speech she made on that occasion, where she praised the beauty of the Streatham campus.
Prior to 1955 the University of Exeter existed as several educational institutions in Exeter and Cornwall founded from the nineteenth century onwards. It was known as the University College of the South West of England.
Queen Elizabeth II approved the grant of a Royal Charter on 28 October 1955 and it passed the Great Seal on 21 December 1955, allowing the University to formally come into existence. Queen Elizabeth II officially presented the Chater during a visit to the University of Exeter in May 1956, during which she named the road on which she travelled the Queen’s Drive.
During her speech, a paper copy of which is on display, the Queen said the University has: “one great natural advantage in its beautiful site, which enables students to live and work in a most agreeable environment. I feel confident that when the plans for its further fine buildings have been completed this new University will play a prominent part in widening the frontiers of knowledge – a duty for which the West Country, with its long traditions of exploration and discovery, is specially fitted.”
Also on show is a copy of the South Westerner, the university’s student newspaper at the time, from Saturday October 29 1955 with the headline: “Charter, We’re There!”. It quotes the Deputy President of the then University College Mr B G Lampard-Vachell saying: “We have been striving for this for years. In spite of various setbacks, party owing to constitutional methods, we persevered”.
The exhibition, in the Forum Library at the Streatham Campus, will run throughout this year.
