St Mary's University, Twickenham

About St Mary's University, Twickenham

St Mary's University, Twickenham is a distinguished public campus university situated across 35 acres of protected historic parkland in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, within the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Established in 1850 by the Catholic Poor School Committee under Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, the institution began in Brook Green, Hammersmith, as a teacher training college for Catholic schoolmasters before relocating in 1925 to the historic Strawberry Hill estate. Granted full university title and degree-awarding powers in 2014, St Mary's holds historic stature as the oldest Catholic university in the United Kingdom. While proud of its Roman Catholic heritage and values of community, generosity, and respect, St Mary's warmly welcomes students and staff of all faiths and none. The university is world-renowned as an elite center for athletic performance, sports science, and Olympic endurance running. Its Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) served as the primary training base for four-time Olympic Gold medallist Sir Mo Farah and has developed dozens of British and international Olympians. The campus track was officially renamed the Sir Mo Farah Athletics Track in his honor. In addition to its global sports reputation, St Mary's maintains its 175-year tradition as a premier teacher training provider in Greater London, with Ofsted Outstanding ratings across its Primary and Secondary PGCEs and Initial Teacher Training partnerships with hundreds of schools. The university is equally acclaimed for its Institute of Theology and Ethics, its Centre for the Study of Modern Slavery, its accredited Law School, and Horace Walpole's world-famous Strawberry Hill House—the architectural masterpiece of 18th-century Georgian Gothic revival that inspired the world's first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. St Mary's combines the intimacy of a supportive collegiate campus with fast 35-minute rail links directly into central London Waterloo.