News - Tremough Campus Building Named
University of Exeter press release
The University of Exeter is delighted to announce that it will name the original building on its Cornwall Campus the Daphne du Maurier building. Built as part of the first phase of the development of the Tremough Campus, which the University of Exeter shares with University College Falmouth, the building houses the Campus library as well as the University's Camborne School of Mines and Centre for Ecology and Conservation.
The name was suggested by University of Exeter academics, to reflect the local and international ambitions of the University in Cornwall. The name has now been approved by the du Maurier family who will join University staff and other invited guests at an official naming ceremony and reception on Friday 9 May.
Professor Matthew Evans, Provost of the University of Exeter's Cornwall Campus said: "We wanted a name that would capture our firm commitment to Cornwall while also reflecting the international reach and ambitions of our research and teaching. We feel that no name captures this more perfectly than 'Daphne du Maurier' and are delighted that the du Maurier family has allowed us to adopt it for our Cornwall Campus."
Invited guests and University staff can look forward to a lecture entitled 'Daphne du Maurier and Cornish Treasures' from Professor Helen Taylor of the University of Exeter's Department of English. The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, Professor Steve Smith, will then preside over a short naming ceremony and guests will enjoy Champagne and canapés inside the newly named building.
The University of Exeter has a long-standing interest in the works and life of Dame Daphne du Maurier, arguably the most successful writer ever from the South West. Original manuscripts and letters of the du Mauriers form part of a special collection at the University's Literary Archives. Dr Jessica Gardner, Head of Special Collections regularly assists scholars and writers through locating and delving into the du Maurier papers, including most recently Justine Picardie, author of Daphne, a new novel about the du Maurier family.
Son of Dame Daphne du Maurier, Kits Browning said: "The du Maurier family are proud and honoured that the University of Exeter has resolved to call the Tremough Campus building after our mother. She herself never went to university, due largely to family influence and the mores of the times, but was very much in favour of higher education and would have been delighted and flattered by Exeter's decision. Her archive is held by the University and her books have added enormously to interest in Cornwall, the place she loved so much and where she lived and died. It is a very fitting tribute to her memory.'"
The Tremough Campus is shared and jointly managed by University College Falmouth and the University of Exeter as part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) initiative, in an arrangement that is unique in the UK. The academic building that formed the second phase of the Cornwall Campus was named the Peter Lanyon Building, after the successful Cornish artist, by University College Falmouth in 2007. Both the University of Exeter and University College Falmouth are now awaiting news on funding for the third phase of the Tremough Campus development.
The £100 million Tremough Campus is funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council. Set in 70 acres of countryside, but close to the waterside towns of Penryn and Falmouth, the campus offers a lively student community. The University of Exeter now offers degrees in Biology, Modern Celtic and Cornish Studies, English, Geology, Geography, History, Law, Mining Engineering, Politics and Renewable Energy on the Tremough Campus, which has expanded rapidly as part of the CUC initiative. This complements the expansion of University College Falmouth's higher education opportunities in Art, Design and Media, with the recent addition of degree courses in Digital Animation, Marine & Natural History Photography, Public Relations, Press Photography, Fashion Design and Performance Sportswear Design. University College Falmouth has recently merged with Dartington College of Arts, which adds exciting new opportunities in Choreography, Music and Theatre to its existing portfolio of Art, Design and Media.