The Sutton Bonington Campus (52°49′49″N 1°15′09″W / 52.8302°N 1.2524°W / 52.8302; -1.2524 (University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus)) is a site of the University of Nottingham, and houses the School of Biosciences and the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science. The campus is a 420 hectare (4.2 km²) site situated in a rural location near Sutton Bonington village, 12 miles (19 km) south of the main, University Park Campus, and 1 mile (2 km) from Junction 24 of the M1 motorway. The campus has its own crest and motto: Aras . Seris . Metis. The campus contains research buildings and teaching facilities, a large library and is also home to Bonington Halls, the University's largest hall of residence, which accommodates around 650 students (in reality it is a series of small halls rather than one big hall - the name has recently changed to reflect this). A 400 hectare (4 km²) commercial farm, University Farm, and a dairy are also part of the site.
The campus has a refectory, a small private function room (Oak Room) for 10-20 people; a student bar and linked JCR, and a room linked to the bar (The Octagon - often used for external meetings), and a Londis. The campus also has a single cashpoint.
Sports facilities include a gym, a sports hall, and an astro-turf pitch. External sports facilities run alongside the University between the main road and the railway line. There is also a music room available to students in the 'Music Soc'.
Travel into Nottingham is facilitated by a free shuttle bus between the distant and more central campuses, which leaves approximately once an hour and takes 25 minutes. There was no train station nearby until January 2009 when East Midlands Parkway station was opened approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) away. Kegworth railway station was closed in 1968, which meant that previously the closest stations were at Loughborough or Nottingham (20-30 mins by taxi). The East Midlands Airport is very close with some flight paths being over the campus itself. Trent Barton run the Indigo bus service which connects Sutton Bonington to the Airport approximately every hour on its Nottingham to Loughborough route.
The campus was formerly the Midlands Agricultural and Dairy College before merging with the University of Nottingham in 1947. The College was originally located in Kingston on Soar, about a two-minute walk down the road from the current campus, but relocated to its current location after the First World War. The site (which had been built but not yet occupied prior to the war) was used as a prisoner-of-war camp during the First World War. It was from there that a group of 21 German officers, led by Captain Karl von Müller, escaped through an underground tunnel dug from one of the huts. 15 tonnes of soil are said to have been removed and hidden under the tiers of a lecture room. All but one of the prisoners were recaptured.
The University of Nottingham opened the doors of its School of Veterinary Medicine and Science in September 2006, the first vet school to open in the UK in over fifty years. In its first year, there were 96 students attending the faculty on its 5 year course, but the number has grown, with the newest 'freshers' being 110 students. There is now also a 6-year program, which includes a preliminary year to teach basic biology and chemistry relevant to the degree. This has been set up with the aim of encouraging more people to do the subject by making it available to those with a degree that is not relevant, or without Biology and Chemistry A-level.
Read more about this topic: Campuses Of The University Of Nottingham