Download this summary catalogue (PDF) ›CHELSEA COLLEGE: Prospectuses, Handbooks and Related Publications

Identity statement

Reference code(s)

GB0100 KCLCA C/PUB, C/RPT, C/HAN, C/SYL, CU/HAN, CSU/REG, CSU/F, C/REG

Title

CHELSEA COLLEGE: Prospectuses, Handbooks and Related Publications

Date(s)

1895-1985

Level of description

Sub-fonds of King's College London Archives

Extent and medium of the unit of description (quantity, bulk, or size)

28 boxes

Context

Name of creator(s)

South-Western Polytechnic, Chelsea Polytechnic, Chelsea College of Science and Technology, Chelsea College

Administrative / Biographical history

The South-Western Polytechnic was opened at Manresa Road, Chelsea, in 1895, to provide scientific and technical education to Londoners. Day and evening classes for men and women comprised study in domestic economy, mathematics, engineering, natural science, art and music. It changed its name to Chelsea Polytechnic in 1922 and taught a growing number of registered students of the University of London, and this relationship was later formally recognised when the Polytechnic, now reconstituted as Chelsea College of Science and Technology, was admitted as a School of the University in 1966. The renamed Chelsea College was formally incorporated into the University of London in 1971. Chelsea merged with King's and Queen Elizabeth College in 1985.

Content & structure

Scope and content

South-Western Polytechnic, Chelsea Polytechnic, Chelsea College of Science and Technology, and Chelsea College Prospectuses, Handbooks and other Publications, 1895-1985. This class of material forms the most readily accessible source of information on the academic and other historical development of the College from its inception until the merger with King's and Queen Elizabeth College in 1985, and notably contains sets of general undergraduate prospectuses for Chelsea courses, 1895-1985, and of general postgraduate syllabuses, 1967-1985; prospectuses for specific undergraduate and postgraduate component courses of study including physics, chemistry, electronics, pharmacy and science education, 1962-1985 (Ref: C/SYL); student information brochures including information on courses, facilities, regulations, Library readers' guides and other academic services handbooks and College histories, 1932-1996 (Ref: C/HAN, C/PUB); Student Union handbooks and related publications such as activities booklets and Union constitution, 1959-1984 (Ref: CU/HAN, CSU/REG, CSU/F); Annual Reports summarising College business, including departmental summaries, finances, academic awards, appointments and retirements and notable events, with statistics and some higher degree and professional examination results in reports prior to the incorporation of the College into the University of London, 1896-1983; a collection of ad hoc reports addressing specific issues concerning Chelsea such as the evolution of the Higher Education sector in the United Kingdom, reports on scientific expeditions to the Azores, Arctic and other locations, and progress reports on research projects undertaken at Chelsea, 1909-1983 (Ref: C/RPT); College rules and regulations including financial regulations, 1967-1982 (Ref: C/REG).

System of arrangement

The collection is divided into the principal sections of publication described above in the Scope and Content section, namely prospectuses, handbooks and reports.

Conditions of access & use

Conditions governing access

Open, subject to signature of Reader's undertaking form, and appropriate provision of two forms of identification, to include one photographic ID.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies, subject to the condition of the original, can be supplied to appropriate College staff. Requests to publish original material should be submitted to the Director of Archive Services, King's College London.

Language/scripts of material

English

Finding aids

A descriptive list is available for consultation in the King's College London Archives reading room.

Allied materials

Existence and location of originals

King's College London College Archives

Related units of description

See also other classes of Chelsea ephemera for related publications and other material describing the work of the College, such as serial publications and press cuttings (Ref: C/SER, C/PC). King's College ephemera also contains relevant material mainly from the merger period in 1985.

Description control

Archivist's Note

Entry compiled by Geoff Browell.

Rules or conventions

National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal Place and Corporate Names 1997; ISAD(G), Second edition, 2000.

This catalogue is made available under the Open Data Commons Attribution License. This catalogue may be updated from time to time in order to reflect additional material and/or new understandings of the material.

Date(s) of descriptions

February 2002