Bedford College (London) - Merger With Royal Holloway

Merger With Royal Holloway

In 1985, Bedford College merged with Royal Holloway College, another college of the University of London which, like Bedford College, had been a college for women only when it was first founded. The merged institution took Royal Holloway College's premises in Egham, Surrey, just outside London, as its main campus and took on the name of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (RHBNC). The decision to drop the Bedford name from day-to-day use caused some discontent among graduates of Bedford College, who felt that their old college had now essentially been taken over by Royal Holloway, and that Bedford College's name and history as a pioneering institution in the field of women's education were being forgotten. In an attempt to give more prominence to the Bedford name, the merged college named a large, newly-built library in the centre of its campus the "Bedford Library". However relations between RHUL and some of the Bedford College alumni today remain somewhat strained. Nevertheless, many Bedford College alumni maintain links with RHUL, supporting alumni events and other college work.

Bedford College's old premises at Regent's Park is now the home of Regent's College.