The College of St Gregory and St Martin at Wye, commonly known as Wye College, was an education and research institution in the village of Wye, Kent. In 1447, Cardinal John Kempe founded his chantry there which also educated local children. , it still includes a rare, complete example of medieval chantry college buildings. and accumulated an estate of nearly . as at Wye in 1557. In 1447 after protracted negotiation, he obtained about an acre of land, including dwellings known as Shalewell, Goldsmyth and Shank, from the Abbot and Convent of Battle who owned the Manor of Wye. Kempe constructed the Latin School, and buildings around a cloistered quadrangle for the accommodation of secular priests. and included a teacher of grammar (Latin). The master had to be a scholar of theology and member of Kempe's alma mater, Merton College.
The dedication to Saint Gregory and Saint Martin mirrors that of Kempe's adjoining church. An earlier 1290 Wye Church, on the site, had been solely named for Saint Gregory. The further reference, at both the college and church, to Saint Martin may have been to recognise the contribution of Battle Abbey, itself dedicated to him.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Masters of Wye College 1448–1545 and smaller Cobham Colleges.
These properties were alienated first to Catherine Parr's Secretary, Walter Buckler for £200, who promptly sold them in 1546 to his brother in law, and property speculator, Maurice Denys. Following Denys' disgrace the college was acquired by William Damsell in 1553, thence passing on death in 1582 to his four daughters. Harpsfield's treatment of Damsell was lenient by comparison to the two Protestants he ordered burnt to death at Wye that same year.
|In office 1684
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|Samuel Pratt
|1762–1812
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|W T Ellis The 1708 will of Lady Joanna Thornhill, the daughter of Sir Bevil Grenville, second wife of descendant Richard Thornhill, and Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Catherine of Braganza provided funds to care for and educate the children of Wye. Her trust purchased parts of the college buildings and other property for that purpose. and Lincoln College.
Trustees of Lady Thornhill's charity school, requiring more space for girls, converted an outbuilding at the south east of the grammar school garden for the purpose. The space, with extant exposed crown post roof, belonging to Sir George Wheler's trust became known as the college Wheelroom. commonly known as Whiskey Money, was intended to compensate licensees in the country required to close. It created an income which Sir Arthur Dyke Acland instead proposed to Parliament be earmarked for the new county councils to spend on technical instruction. His amendment, it is reported, was adopted by a lethargic and half empty house.
The combined Lady Thornhill Trust owned its school premises; nearby Amage Farm, and agricultural land on Romney Marsh. An 1891 proposal from the Earl of Winchilsea envisaged this should be the basis of a 40 male student agricultural college for Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and he opened with thirteen students. It was then the first and only college founded and maintained by public money solely for the benefit of agriculture in England. Hall's student roll grew to 46 in 1900; 71 in 1902, and 124 in 1913.
Unconventionally for a college of agriculture, Hall chose to appoint teaching staff that were scientists rather than agriculturalists with some scientific insight, and at opening, none had agricultural experience. He later accepted that with his initial over-emphasis on basic science the establishment was fortunate to be accepted so quickly by the farming community. Rather than entrust the new college's farm to Hall's team the governors chose to run it themselves with the help of a bailiff. It was not until Frank Baybrook Smith briefly joined the college to teach agriculture that the governors felt sufficiently confident in the academic team to relinquish direct control of the college farm. Ernest Stanley Salmon helped hop and other growers combat fungi,
Complementing individual consultations and publications, college staff toured the south-east of England giving lectures to agricultural or rural organisations on "fruit growing, farriery, poultry, bee keeping, and numerous veterinary topics", Indeed, itinerant agriculture lecturer Hall From 1894, students seeking a three-year qualification completed the college's two-year diploma and were then prepared a further year for examination by the Royal Agricultural Society of England, the Surveyors' Institution or by Cambridge University. The arrangement was reversed for the new London University Bachelor of Science degree. Students could take first year basic science courses anywhere in the university's Faculty of Science and the latter years provided specialist teaching such as agricultural chemistry, agricultural botany and agricultural engineering.
John Russell had joined the college in 1901 and took over chemistry teaching from Henry Cousins. and principal Dunstan's daughter Hester.
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|rowspan=3|1925
|Pig research unit established. Until this time pig production, along with the rearing of poultry or rabbits, bee-keeping and even production of pigeons for meat, was considered part of horticulture. Initially the space was used as garden, but would be developed as laboratories and the New Lecture Theatre.
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|1927
|Amage, Coldharbour and Silks Farm purchased,
During World War II the college initially remained open, alongside providing training to the Women's Land Army, but closed in autumn 1940, The college dining hall (Wheelroom) provided a space for servicemen's Catholic Mass, the first time it had been celebrated in the village of Wye since the Reformation.
Former World War II RAF Wing Commander and beagle pack.
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|1947
|Construction of premises for the National Agricultural Advisory Service at the north-west corner of the estate, along Olantigh Road. The service took over agricultural extension tasks the college had performed for the south-east of England, albeit co-located and in close co-operation.
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In 1947, the South Eastern Agricultural College formally amalgamated with Swanley Horticultural College as the School of Agriculture and Horticulture within the University of London. Swanley College's former premises had been heavily damaged during World War II and it was decided to rebuild at a combined college rather than in Swanley.
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|Dunstan Skilbeck
|1945–1948
The major impact for the college was a cessation of short and diploma courses in favour of entirely degree-level education,
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|1954
|Gymnasium demolished and replaced by (or converted to) a dining hall
Alongside his roles at the Council for Small Industries in Rural Areas, and as expert witness to public inquiries into large scale planning applications, Wibberley continued at the college until 1985. and had been Professor of Agriculture at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. During his tenure the College's character changed substantially. Domestic students were joined by 200 from some 50 countries overseas. Wye's Double Digger was tested around the world, notably at Purdue University. A business was established to market it, and commercial two furrow version built, before development ceased.
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|1974
|Students' union building opened.
During the early 1980s, Government spending cuts led to a series of mergers between University of London colleges. In spite of Wye being among the very smallest, and persistent concerns that agriculture was not "a fit subject to study at university", it was spared a merger because of physical isolation outside the capital and the absence of course overlap / potential cost savings with sister London colleges.
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|1992
|Dunstan Skilbeck Hall opened at Withersdane Hall named for the former principal, followed the next year by adjoining Bernard Sunley Hall / Garden Hall. The latter scheme was assisted by the Bernard Sunley Foundation and included larger, family accommodation for postgraduates.
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In 1996, Natural Resources International Ltd was incorporated in partnership with Imperial College, and the universities of Edinburgh and Greenwich, to take over overseas development training and consulting services formerly provided by the Government's Overseas Development Agency Natural Resources Institute. Turnover in the first year was £25.9 million rising to £26.8 million by the time of the college's merger with Imperial College. Clients included the Department for International Development, World Bank, European Union, African Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and other state and commercial bodies.
thumb|right|Kempe Centre, 2013
In 1997 the Kempe Centre, named for Cardinal John Kempe, was opened by Princess Anne at the junction of Olantigh and Occupation Roads. It subsequently formed the nucleus of Wye School.
Of the £4 million projected cost only £750,000 came from the Higher Education Funding Council for England. The college provided £2 million from property sales (including Court Lodge); the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust donated £100,000, and £500,000 came from an appeal including sums from the Wolfson Foundation, Westminster foundations and individual alumni. The remainder was funded by commercial loans.
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Imperial College at Wye
thumb|right|Former Wye College library, 2013
In 2000, Wye College merged with Imperial College and was renamed Imperial College at Wye. It ceased to be an independent College of London University.
Apart from Imperial College, mergers were considered with University of Kent at Canterbury and University of Greenwich. The governors concluded that Imperial College, like Wye a constituent College of the University of London, complemented Wye most closely. The colleges were already partners in Natural Resources International, though so too was Greenwich. Imperial College was publicly enthusiastic.
Nevertheless, 25% of academic staff at Wye were offered redundancy terms and took them. Worse still, Imperial College inadvertently did not include Wye undergraduate courses in its prospectus so admissions plummeted in 2000 and 2001.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Provosts of Imperial College at Wye
|Tim Clark
|2000–2001
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|Jeff Waage
|2001–2004
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Imperial College scheme
In 2005, Imperial College announced it intended to convert Wye College's estate into a research centre for non-food crops and biomass fuels, and that it had support from Kent County Council and Ashford Borough Council. Later accounts included commercial biofuel production facilities on Wibberley Way and BP suggested as putative partner / operator. Leaked documents revealed Imperial College expected to gain £100 million by building 4,000 houses on in the Kent Downs, provoking national as well as local opposition.
Imperial College's project team had spent at least £850,000 on external consultants preparing their Wye Park masterplan, and subsequently paid Bell Pottinger to lobby regional and national government in its favour. The following year science staff relocated from Wye to Imperial College's South Kensington or Silwood Park sites
The main village properties were sold to Telereal Trillium in 2015. Further sales included Squires Hostel as three dwellings; Wolfson Hostel as a site for six houses; the buildings opposite the college on High Street, and the pig, sheep and poultry (Agricultural Field Station / Farm Mechanisation Unit).
In 2021, Telereal Trillium obtained planning permission to convert the traditional college buildings to 38 dwellings. Conditions require public access one day a month to the cloistered quadrangle; Old lecture theatre; Old Hall; Parlour, and Jacobean staircase, and use of the Chapel for public worship. The former estates office area is reserved for charity, Wye Heritage. Imperial College's endowment fund retains ownership of the Wye College farmland.
right|thumb|Withersdane gardens, 1983
By 1984, the college owned much of Wye village across the High Street from its main entrance, over to Bridge Street and some premises on Oxenturn Road. That was variously used for administration, student hostels, car parking, a clinic, laundry and offices. Outside the village Wye College owned the NIAB facility at Coldharbour Farm; the MAFF / Defra regional offices and laboratories on Olantigh Road; Regional Veterinary Investigation Centre / Edward Partridge House off Coldharbour Lane; Withersdane Hall, Agricultural Field Centre / Farm Mechanisation Unit / Poultry Research; beagle kennels; Court Lodge; Brook Agricultural Museum; sport fields on Cherry Garden Lane, and an SSSI site at Wye Crown and quarry. Research was carried out at dairy, pig, hop and sheep enterprises on the college's farm; in the horticulture department; on the chalk grasslands, and among commercial crops.
Old Flying Horse
thumb|right|Old Flying Horse student accommodation, 1983
The hostel directly facing the main college entrance across High Street had been an inn, and before that medieval hall-house. Fourteenth century painted decoration and a dais canopy to protect guests from falling soot and sparks survived into the 20th century.
Cloister
The minstrels' gallery is a 1946 embellishment, opposite the dais end of the hall.