My first Queen鈥檚 memory doesn鈥檛 consist of excited Frosh Week cheers or of getting lost among the old limestone buildings on campus. In fact, my first Queen鈥檚 memory has nothing to do with Kingston. Instead, I鈥檓 in a cab that鈥檚 driving across the English countryside. Anticipation lurches in my chest, and just as we reach the bottom of a small hill the driver turns to me and announces, 鈥淭here it is.鈥
Ahead of us is a magnificent, turreted, brick castle surrounded by a moat that鈥檚 mirror-calm in the summer dusk. A Queen鈥檚 tricolour flag, a Union Jack, and a Canadian flag flutter ever-so-slightly atop the turrets over the gate. I鈥檓 about to embark on my first year of university, studying at Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex.
The author as 鈥渁 Castle kid鈥 in 2009 (supplied photo)
This historic property was donated to Queen鈥檚 in 1993 by Dr. Alfred Bader, Sc鈥45, Arts鈥46, MSc鈥47, LLD鈥86, and his wife, Dr. Isabel Bader, LLD鈥07, who had the foresight to envision the castle as an international study centre.
It had sat empty for nearly four years before the Baders bought it, and there鈥檇 been speculation the property would be sold to a developer who would turn the castle and grounds into a golf resort. Local residents much preferred the Baders鈥 vision of Herstomonceux as an academic centre since it ensured the castle鈥檚 history would remain preserved and celebrated.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of Herstmonceux can be found in a petition to the Crown made in 1441 by a Sussex knight named Roger Fiennes (King Henry VI鈥檚 household treasurer), who requested the right to fortify his manor home. At the time of its construction, Fiennes鈥 castle was the largest private home in the kingdom. Since 1440 it has had many owners and has undergone numerous transformations.
After WWII, when the estate was sold to the Admiralty, the grounds became home to the Royal Greenwich Observatory. That was the case until 1989, when the observatory was relocated to Cambridge, leaving behind the telescopes鈥 incongruous domes. The castle itself sat vacant until it was purchased by the Baders, a residence was added, and the International Study Centre welcomed its first few literature, drama, and history professors and students in the fall of 1994.
In 2009 it was renamed the Bader International Study Centre (BISC) in honour of its benefactors, whose visits are always welcomed by students. The BISC now offers undergrad courses in the arts, 颅humanities, languages, social sciences, and commerce, as well as a post-baccalaureate International Law program. Students live in Bader Hall, an adjacent residence, eat meals in the castle鈥檚 dining hall, attend 颅lectures in 15th century rooms with 21st century technology, and find academic resources in the castle鈥檚 library. To support academics, the BISC has borrowing agreements with the University of Sussex 颅Library, East Sussex Public Library, and the British Interlibrary Loans System.
The BISC is located about 100 km southeast of London, and so students and faculty can travel often into the city for field studies and leisure.
Looking back on the year I spent studying at the BISC, I see how the experience helped to shape my personal life and my academic experience. Most importantly, the BISC gave me an opportunity to learn in an environment that encouraged me to use my imagination. I鈥檇 hear peacocks squawking outside the library windows as I studied. Whenever I needed a break, I walked in the gardens and surrounding forests.
It was also a privilege to attend field studies that fully immersed me in the topics I was studying. After reading the classic Canterbury Tales, my class took a day trip to Canterbury. There we visited the very cathedral that was the destination of poet Geoffrey Chaucer鈥檚 pilgrims. Art history classes took trips to the National Gallery in London. Students in politics visited the European Union in Brussels, and drama classes were bemused to see Shakespeare at the new Globe Theatre in London.
I鈥檇 be remiss if I failed to mention that the BISC is a place that fosters unique friendships. Castle alumni well understand how important friends are when you have the 鈥淏ader blues,鈥 a term used to describe Bader Hall cabin fever or homesickness. And it鈥檚 your friends who save you when you lose your passport or miss a train.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the BISC, and all alumni are invited to return for celebrations in the first-ever official reunion on the weekend of July 26-28. It will be an exciting opportunity for the worldwide network of BISC alumni whose memories of 颅Herstmonceux will last a lifetime.
