Ravensbourne University London

Bromley School of Art opened in 1878 in Tweedy Road, Bromley.[4] It became Bromley College of Art after the Second World War.[5] In 1959 it merged with the Department of Furniture Design of the Beckenham School of Art and in 1965 moved to purpose-built accommodation on Rookery Lane, Bromley Common. The site had originally housed the Rookery, an 18th-century house that had been burnt out while in military occupation in 1946. As the college expanded it was unable to develop the Rookery Lane site any further, as it was in the Metropolitan Green Belt. In 1975 the college moved to a new site in 18 acres (7.3 ha) of private parkland on Walden Road, Chislehurst (51.4205°N 0.0537°E / 51.4205; 0.0537).[1] The Rookery Lane site was redeveloped for the Bromley College of Further & Higher Education.

It has offered higher level courses in design since the 1960s. It was amongst the earliest of institutions to be approved by the then CNAA to convert the traditional Diploma programmes in Art and Design into honours degrees during the 1970s. Following the demise of the CNAA in 1992, Ravensbourne entered into a validating partnership with the Royal College of Art, which agreed exceptionally to take this responsibility. This validation ceased when the Royal College of Art withdrew from offering collaborative provision. In April 2010 it shortened its name from Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication to Ravensbourne.

Ravensbourne was recognised as an affiliate College of the University of Sussex in 1996, and was re-recognised in 2002. Between 2009 and 2012 the institution's undergraduate and postgraduate provision was validated by City University, London. This relationship was maintained until May 2012. In June 2013 University of the Arts London became the validating partner. In May 2018 Ravensbourne gained university status, and can now award its own degrees.[6]

In 1985 the Broadcasting department joined, replacing Fine Arts. Over the next five years the School of Television was moved to the Chislehurst Campus from its Wharton Road, Bromley site. The only legacy of the school accessible online are references to planning applications as its end drew near. The site is now occupied by "St Timothy's Mews" housing development.[7][8][9][10][11]

The School of Television had been set up at the behest of the Independent Television Companies, by John Lisney[12] to create a common training facility equivalent to facilities offered by the BBC. An old Victorian School had been converted into a facility comprising two Broadcast standard studios with additional network control and sound studios and classrooms. It was a small unit which had originally been attached to the College of Art for administrative purposes only. Most of the equipment was donated, largely by the BBC, including the cameras that had previously been used to record shows such as "The Muppets" and "Auf Wiedersehen Pet". These became available when the BBC took over the Elstree Studios and were preparing them for a new series "East Enders". In addition to degrees the College delivered degree short courses. The pedigree of earlier equipment is not known except that it was donated by the broadcasters of the time.

Large quantities of 5" VTR tapes were provided to the college by the BBC and ITV companies on condition all trace of their original content was deleted using a degaussing machine.

The author of this part of the entry, relating to the School of Television, is the Engineer (PJW Holland) responsible for maintenance of the facility from 1983 to 1987 succeeding from Richard Doyle-Davidson and ably assisted by Gerry England[13] whose genius was a major factor. This is a first hand account of events which is provided purely for completeness.

Ravensbourne offers undergraduate, postgraduate and further education programmes taught in a single faculty with two main clusters of courses, the Design School and the Screen School.

At undergraduate level, there are Foundation degrees, honours degree level top-up years (for those having completed foundation degrees or equivalent), and Bachelor's degrees. The available postgraduate provision consists of Master's level courses, each of which can be studied to MA, MDes or MSc (dependent on subject). A range of subject areas are offered within the main disciplines of fashion, design and broadcasting.

Within the area of Further Education, Ravensbourne offers the Diploma in Foundation Studies for both Art & Design and Media, as well as the BTEC National Certificate in Art and Design.

• Brian Barnes, artist[2]
• Deirdre Borlase, artist[19]
• Dinos Chapman, artist[2][20]
• Maria Cornejo, fashion designer[21]
• Beryl Dean Disruptive embroiderer[22]
• Rose Finn-Kelcey, artist[23]
• Nazaneen Ghaffar, weather presenter, Sky News[24]
• Robert Hewison, literary scholar[2]
• Simon Hilton, film director & editor[2]
• Peter James, writer and film producer[2][25][26]
• John Leckie, record producer
• Anthony McCall, artist[27]
• Stella McCartney, fashion designer[2][28]
• Bruce Oldfield, fashion designer[2][28][29]
• Chris Orr, artist[2][30]
• Jay Osgerby (BarberOsgerby), product and furniture designer[2][31]
• Tim Pope, film director[2][32]
• Carol Tulloch, Professor of Dress, Diaspora and Transnationalism
• Ben Cormack, writer and illustrator
• Alison Wilding, sculptor[2][33]
• Andrew Kötting, Artist film maker[2][34]
• Andi Osho, comedian[2][35]
• Clare Waight Keller, fashion designer.[36]

• Jeremy Gardiner
• Armin Medosch

• Higher Education website
• Students' Union website
• Architects website