Royal School of Mines

Royal School of Mines
(Imperial College London)
Type Public
Established 1851
(Amalgamated 1907, Imperial College London)
Students approx. 800
Location London, UK
Campus Urban
Colours
                                         
Website https://www.union.ic.ac.uk/rsm/exec/

The Royal School of Mines comprises the departments of Earth Science and Engineering, Materials and Bioengineering[1] at Imperial College London. The Centre for Advanced Structural Ceramics and parts of the London Centre for Nanotechnology are also housed within the RSM. The school, as such, no longer exists, though the Edwardian building by Sir Aston Webb is viewed as a classic of academic architecture, and still carries its name, as do the relevant student unions.

History

Royal School of Mines entrance in London's Albertopolis.

The Royal School of Mines was established in 1851,[2] as the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts. The School developed from the Museum of Economic Geology, a collection of minerals, maps and mining equipment made by Sir Henry De la Beche, and opened in 1841. The museum also provided some student places for the study of mineralogy and metallurgy. Sir Henry was the director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and when the collections outgrew the premises the museum and the survey were placed on an official footing, with government assistance.

The Museum of Practical Geology and the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts opened in a purpose-designed building in Jermyn Street in 1851. The officers of the Geological Survey became the lecturers and professors of the School of Mines. The Royal College of Chemistry was merged into it in 1853. The name was changed in 1863 to the Royal School of Mines, and was moved to South Kensington in 1872, leaving the Museum of Practical Geology behind in Jermyn Street. In 1907, the RSM was incorporated into Imperial College of Science and Technology, but remains a "Constituent College" of Imperial. The last Dean of the Royal School of Mines was Professor John Monhemius before the position was removed.

Today, the RSM no longer exists as an academic entity. The RSM is both the building in which the departments are housed, and the student body that organises social events, sports teams, clubs and societies for students within those departments.[3]

Connection with India

The Indian School of Mines, in the city of Dhanbad of India (Presently Known as Indian Institute of Technology, Dhanbad) was established in 1926 by the British India Government on the lines of Royal School of Mines of London, by Lord Irwin, the then Viceroy of India. At that time India was ruled by Britain.[4]

The building

Royal School of Mines entrance and the Goldsmiths' wing, Prince Consort Road, London.

Designed by Sir Aston Webb, the RSM building is Classical in style with Ionic pilasters.[5] It was erected between 1909 and 1913 specifically to house the school, which was previously resident in the Huxley Building on Exhibition Road, now the Henry Cole Wing of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The foundation stone was laid by King Edward VII on 8 July 1909.

The RSM was the last of many buildings that Webb designed for the Albertopolis area (including the Cromwell Road frontage of the V&A) and, some would argue, his least resolved. Constructed in Portland stone, the entrance is formed by a three storey, semicircular niche, flanked by two memorials (sculpted by Paul Raphael Montford, 1916–1920) to Alfred Beit and Julius Wernher who were major benefactors to the school.[6] The western wing of the building is named after Webb, while the eastern end is named after the Goldsmiths' Company who helped to finance the building of the RSM.

The building in film

The distinctively Edwardian and academic styling cues used in the building's architecture have led to the RSM appearing in a number of film and television productions:

RSM Student's Union

The RSM students union, has a constitution written in very formal terms that states the RSM exists for:

These are achieved through sports teams, societies and events which span the academic year from October to July. The highlight of the sporting and social calendar is the annual Bottle Match against Camborne School of Mines, the second oldest rugby varsity match in the world.[7]

Notable past students and professors

Reputation

The Royal School of Mines has a high reputation in Geology, Geophysics, Mineralogy, Geochemistry, Materials Science, Petroleum Science and Engineering. Through societies such as the RSM Association and the Chaps Club, the RSM maintains a strong alumni network in the global mining community.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Visit us | Imperial College London". www.imperial.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-03.
  2. ↑ "History of the RSM". Royal School of Mines Union website. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  3. ↑ "About the RSM". Royal School of Mines Union website. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  4. ↑ About ISM
  5. ↑ "Albertopolis: Royal School of Mines". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  6. ↑ "Albertopolis: Royal School of Mines". Royal Institute of British Architects. Retrieved 17 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "History of the RSM". Royal School of Mines Union website. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  8. ↑ 'CRESWELL, Lt-Col Hon. Frederic Hugh Page', in Who Was Who 1941–1950 (London: A. & C. Black, 1980 reprint: ISBN 0-7136-2131-1)
  9. ↑ "Passages: William Sefton Fyfe - C.C., FRS, FRS(C), FRS(NZ)". Geolog. Geological Association of Canada. 42 (4): 15–16. Winter 2014.
  10. ↑ Arhin, Kwame, ed. The Papers of George Ekem Ferguson: A Fanti Official of the Government of the Gold Coast, 1890-1897. Leiden: Africka-Studiecentrum, 1974.
  11. ↑ "History of the RSMA". Royal School of Mines Association website. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
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