Field Research Stations and Harlington Athletics Ground of Imperial College

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0098 KZF
Held at	: Imperial College of Science Technology and Medicine   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/recordsandarchives ›
Full title	: Field Research Stations and Harlington Athletics Ground of Imperial College
Date(s)	: Created 1616-1990 (ongoing)
Level of description	: Series of Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine records View parent record
Extent	: 11 boxes
Name of creator(s)	: Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The first Field Station established by the College was at Hurworth, near Slough in the late 1920s. It was taken over by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research during World War Two, and consequently the college relocated their field station to Silwood Park, Berkshire. The house and land was purchased in 1947, and in 1953 Silwood Park Farm and land was purchased by Imperial College. Some further land along Cheapside Road was purchased in 1961. The Overseas Spraying Machinery Centre, Silwood Park was established in 1955.
Sunninghill manor, part of Silwood Park estate, first appears as a separate manor in a conveyance of 1362, although technically it is a parcel of the royal manor of Cookham. The first court of which there is a record was held in 1616 by Mathew Day, Lord of the manor and five times mayor of Windsor. Courts were held irregularly during the period 1616-1790, and dealt exclusively with the transfer of land and admission of tenants. After several changes of owner, the manor was sold to James Sibbald in 1788, who built a new house, the first Silwood.
The Ashurst Lodge Estate house and grounds was purchased by Imperial College in 1948, and sold in 1987.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of Imperial College Field Research Stations, comprising papers relating to Slough Field Station, Berkshire (Hurworth), including correspondence concerning purchase, 1927-1929; stored products research, with the Ministry of Agriculture and Empire Marketing Board, 1930-1933; building development scheme, 1936-1938; sale of land at Hurworth, Berkshire,1931-1949 (KZFA); correspondence concerning grants for fumigation research, construction of fumigation chamber, 1931-1938 (KZFB); correspondence with the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research relating to Slough Field Station, 1939-1954, including research and accommodation arrangements (KZFD);
papers relating to Silwood Park Field Station, Berkshire, 1838-1990, including history, 1947-1990; sale particulars of the estate, 1838 (KZF); correspondence concerning purchase, 1944-1945; academic development, 1947-1953; purchase and letting of Silwood Park Farm, 1951-1957; land development, 1956-1968; Botany Department laboratory space, 1957-1958; Rectors' correspondence, 1965-1976; Sirex Biological Control Unit, 1963-1966; radar tower, 1962-1965; general files, 1971-1986; lease of land for an astronomical observatory, 1948-1959 (KZFG); papers relating to Silwood Park Open Days, 1972, 1989 (KZFH); expansion, 1955-1965, including Shell Parasitology building, 1959-1961; Nematology building, 1955-1961; Rectors' papers, 1955-1965 (KZFK); sale catalogues for Silwood Park, 1944; Ashurst Lodge, Berkshire, 1939 (KZFL); reports on the Overseas Spraying Machinery Centre, Silwood Park, 1955-1980 (KZFO); Silwood Centre for Pest Management, 1984-[1986] (KZFP); correspondence on the purchase of Sandyride House, 1969-1970 (KZFS); development schemes for Silwood Park, 1984 (KZFT);
manorial records for Silwood Park, including court roll of the manor of Sunninghill, 1616-1790 (KZFM);
papers relating to Harlington athletics ground, Middlesex, 1937-1957, including the Development Committee, 1937-1944; purchase and sale of land, 1936-1956 (KZFG7).

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English, Latin (part of Sunninghill court roll).

System of arrangement:

The records are arranged in sections as outlined in the scope and content.

Conditions governing access:

Researchers wishing to consult the Archives should first contact the College Archivist, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Exhibition Road, London SW7 2AZ, for an appointment.

Conditions governing reproduction:

A photocopying service is available at the discretion of the Archivist. Photocopies are supplied for research use only. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Archivist.

Finding aids:

A catalogue is available at the College Archives.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Sunninghill manorial records were transferred to the College Archives in 1971, by Professor T R E Southwood.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Records of the Departments of Botany, Pure and Applied Biology and the Division of Life Science (KB), the Department of Zoology (KZ), Professor James Watson Munro (KZB MUNRO), records relating to the University of London (UL) and Imperial College Expansion Schemes (I), held at Imperial College.

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Julie Tancell as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.

Rules or conventions:
General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
October 2000