St David's College was founded in Lampeter in 1822 by Thomas Burgess, Bishop of St David's, to provide training for those wishing to join the Anglican priesthood. It was the first institution of higher education in Wales and the third oldest in England and Wales after Oxford and Cambridge. In 1852 it was granted a charter to award the BD degree and in 1865 another charter enabled it to confer BA degrees in liberal arts. Its central building, based on an Oxbridge-style quadrangle was designed by Charles Robert Cockerell.