A Tale of Two campuses... 1970 to 1980
"Life was certainly laid back - I don't think I ever had lectures before 10am, but I frequently didn't make it up the hill from Birks to get to them. We all spent lots of time chatting over coffee in our rooms and then going up to Devonshire House coffee bar to continue the discussions with others over a cheese and pickle roll."
Les Dangerfield, Economic History 1973
Building work slowed in the 1970s as the world's economic problems made money for investment difficult to find. However, student numbers continued to increase and by the end of the decade had gone from 3,400 to nearly 5,200. Exeter's reputation as an alternative to Oxbridge continued to develop and by 1975 the proportion of students coming from professional or managerial families had increased to 56 per cent.
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| The opening of Cornwall House by Mr F Spurway in June 1971. |
Four major building projects were completed during the decade. A second Guild building, Cornwall House, was completed in 1971. The Amory Building (named after Viscount Amory, Exeter's Chancellor from 1972-81) was opened in 1974 and provided a new home for Law and Social Studies. In the same year the University shopping centre opened. The first phase of the Lafrowda flats were built in 1971 and a second phase in 1976.
St Luke's College of Education joined the University in 1978. The history of St Luke's extends back further into the nineteenth century than that of the University, its first students were enrolled in 1840 and the St Luke's campus was opened in 1854. The campus is now home not only to the School of Education and Lifelong Learning (as it is now known), but also the School of Health and Sports Science and the Exeter base of the Peninsula Medical School.
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