Seale-Hayne College was anagricultural college inDevon, England, which operated from 1919 to 2005. It was the only agricultural college in the United Kingdom whose buildings were purpose designed and built.[1] It was located 3 miles fromNewton Abbot.
The college was established in accordance with the will ofCharles Seale Hayne (1833-1903), aLiberal politician who was a Devon land-owner. The college was built between 1912 and 1914, but its opening was delayed by the start of theFirst World War. During the war it served as a training centre forLand Girls, and in 1918 and 1919 it operated as a militaryneurasthenic hospital for the treatment of soldiers suffering fromshell shock.[2]
The first students arrived in 1920. During theSecond World War the college was used for the training of the secondWomen's Land Army.[3] After the war the college was significantly expanded, and by 1986 there were over 1,000 students.[1] In 1989 the college merged withPlymouth Polytechnic to form the Seale-Hayne Faculty of Agriculture, Food & Land Use, Polytechnic South West, and Polytechnic South West became theUniversity of Plymouth in 1992. In 2005 the university closed the college, and staff and students were transferred toPlymouth.[4][5]
Until 31 January 2019 the Seale-Hayne site was used by Dame Hannah Rogers Trust, which provided education, therapy, care and respite for children and young people with profound physical disabilities as well as a centre to hold events to raise funds for the Dame Hannah Rogers School inIvybridge.[6]
Notable former pupils of the College, known as "Seale-Haynians", include: