What was Newton Rigg College?
Established in 1896, Newton Rigg was one of the leading land-based colleges in the UK providing courses in agriculture, gamekeeping, animal and equine management, forestry, horticulture and agricultural engineering, as well as General Further Education in areas such as uniformed public services, outdoor adventure, sport and health and social care.
Newton Rigg’s campus, facilities and farms made it unique. The main residential campus was located just two miles from Penrith, where facilities ranged from an Equestrian Centre to engineering workshops and sports facilities.
Newton Rigg also had two farms, which provided essential learning environments for the next generation of farmers, gamekeepers, agricultural engineers to develop their skills and explore the ways their industries can be improved for a sustainable future. Serbowens Farm, next to Newton Rigg’s main campus, was home to a specialist Dairy Unit, opened in 2014. Low Beckside Farm, in Mungrisdale, was The National Centre for the Uplands with a Sheep Husbandry Centre opened in 2017.
Why was Newton Rigg so important?
Cumbria’s young people need to learn how to farm in Cumbria, where its unique landscape brings unique challenges. At the same time, the agricultural industry as a whole cannot continue to move forward and innovate without excellent education at the the heart of it - providing students with the knowledge they need to embrace modern technology, and explore new ideas for the future.
Alongside agriculture, Newton Rigg is also integral to a range of land-based industries including forestry and gamekeeping, but also engineering, where Newton Rigg provided an important local source of employment training and apprenticeships for businesses.
Why was Newton Rigg under threat?
Newton Rigg’s owner, Askham Bryan College (York), has publicly stated its intention to close the College with effect from July 2021 and to offer the College assets for sale.
History
Newton Rigg is no ordinary college or campus. It’s establishment in 1896 remains a significant milestone in the development of farming, food production and land-based education and employment.
Newton Rigg was originally established in 1896. Following the arrival of the railways, tourism was growing in the Lake District but hospitality businesses were still importing a large proportion of their produce, such as butter which came from New Zealand. Local council and business leaders including George Henry Pattinson JP, OBE, Gilbert Gilkes and James Cropper recognised the need to support the skills of local farm workers and so formed a committee along with representatives from Cumberland, Westmorland and Northumberland to establish a School of Dairying, Poultry and Sheep Farming.
Newton Rigg went on to be integral not only to the farming communities, but to land-based expertise, employment and industry with specialisms in forestry, upland farming, dairy, gamekeeping and related sectors and strong links with local industries and businesses.
Today, our country, and our world continue to change. There is a clear need for the UK to become more, rather than less, self-sufficient in food production and husbandry skills - just as Gilbert Gilkes and other industry leaders foresaw in 1894 - while also leading the way in agri-tech innovation, sustainable tourism and land-management. This means that it is ever more important to continue, and develop, Newton Rigg’s core role in the UK’s farming community, while harnessing the potential of land-based learning to benefit realising its potential as an asset to the local and national economy.