Celebrating 200 years of Higher Education in Wales
A service and procession were held in Lampeter on Friday, 12 August, to celebrate two hundred years of higher education in Wales. The day marked exactly 200 years since the foundation stone for St David’s College, Lampeter was laid by Bishop Thomas Burgess.
Professor Medwin Hughes, DL, Vice-chancellor said:
“The Bicentenary marks two centuries of continued higher education opportunities for the people of Wales and celebrates the contribution of our universities and colleges in that story”.
The service was led by
The Reverend Dr Emma Whittick, chaplain of the University in Lampeter and the sermon was delivered by The Right Reverend Dr Joanna Penberthy, Bishop of St Davids.
Following the service a procession of hundreds of guests, staff, students and alumni travelled from the Church to the University campus. There, a memorial was unveiled by the Bishop of St Davids and Jeremy Miles MS, Welsh Government Minister for Education and the Welsh Language. The Minister then opened the Gallery, an exhibition of the history of the Lampeter campus which includes the original foundation stone. A Peace Bell was rung 20 times. The Bell was commissioned by the University to reinforce the commitment made 200 years ago to support the study of world religions and to mark how the University has, over the years, developed as an international centre on for interfaith and intercultural dialogue. The Peace Bell, the only one of its kind in Wales, also marks the University’s commitment to the Welsh Government’s Well-being of Future Generations Act (2015). During the day, the book ‘Treasures: Special Collections of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David’ edited by Professor John Morgan-guy was launched. It is a fully illustrated book containing a selection of the many thousands of works held in the Roderic Bowen Library and Archive on the Lampeter campus.