Borough Polytechnic

A public meeting took place at London's Mansion House in 1888 which began the public appeal to raise funds for the Polytechnic. During 1890, the former buildings of Joseph Lancaster's British and Foreign Schools Society were purchased for the Borough Polytechnic Institute. By 1891 enough money had been raised to establish polytechnics at both Battersea and at Borough Road, Southwark. On 30th September 1892, the Borough Polytechnic Institute was officially opened by Lord Rosebery. Its stated area of responsibility was to educate the local community in a range of practical skills. These areas included specialist courses that reflected local trades including leather tanning, typography, metalwork, electrical engineering, laundry, baking, and boot & shoe manufacture. Instruction was also given in art, science and literature. Guest speakers such as George Bernard Shaw and Ralph Vaughan Williams were invited to give public lectures.

Art came to the fore when in 1911, the Governors commissioned Roger Fry to create a set of seven murals to decorate the student dining room with the theme of 'London on Holiday'. These consisted of Bathing and Football, by Duncan Grant, The Zoo by Fry himself, A Fair by Frederick Etchells, Toy Boats by Bernard Adeney, Punch & Judy by cartoonist and illustrator MacDonald Gill and Paddling, by Albert Rothenstein. Sadly In 1931, they were sold to the Tate Gallery and as such are rarely on public view. Its greatest claim to artistic fame came about when between 1945-1953, painter David Bomberg taught art at the Polytechnic forming the renowned Borough Group of artists and through this attracted many artists who were to achieve fame during te second half of the 20th century and beyond. The Polytechnic has since undergone several name changes, becoming the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1970, South Bank Polytechnic in 1987, South Bank University in 1992 and London South Bank University in 2003. Other notable alumni include Frank Auerbach, Mel Calman, Dennis Creffield, Cliff Holden, Leon Kossoff, Miles Richmond and Don Lawrence,