Walpole did not follow the conventional 18th-century fashion of classical building, but sought his inspiration from medieval styles, creating a notable early example of neo-Gothic architecture.

Some of his contemporaries imitated his design; this house and the idea it embodied take their place in the history of architecture as "Strawberry Hill Gothic".

[citation needed] By the end of the 20th century, Strawberry Hill House had fallen into a state of disrepair, with the cost of reversing its condition too substantial for the college to meet.

£370,000 in development funding and a £1.4M investment from St Mary's were also received, but finances still fell short of the projected £8.2M cost of restoration.

Near the porter's lodge is what Bridget Cherry and Sir Nikolaus Pevsner describe as an "incongruous Walpole survival without its protective vegetation".

[4] The Grade I listed[5] Chapel in the Wood is a garden building designed in 1772 by John Chute and was completed in 1774 by Thomas Gayfere the Elder.

A legal trust created on 16 July 1851 in connection with this property and its use as a training college for Catholic schoolmasters was confirmed in perpetuity.

[citation needed] The college was established on similar lines to that of the Brothers of Christian Instruction (les Frères d'Instruction Chrétienne) at Ploermel, Brittany, where English students were sent between 1848 and 1851.

[citation needed] The college opened with six adult male students who had begun their training at the novitiate of the Brothers of Christian Instruction.

[citation needed] With the appointment of the fourth principal, Father William Byrne CM in 1899, the association of the college with the Congregation of the Mission (usually known as the Vincentians) commenced.

This inaugurated a period of change and augmentation, seen in the increase in staff and student numbers, the introduction of the office of Dean, and the extension of the college premises made possible by funding from the Catholic Education Council.

This group was jointly responsible with UCL for drawing up the syllabuses of the courses taught at the colleges, while the final examinations were designed to qualify students for the Certificate of Education awarded by the University of London.

At the same time a one-year colonial course was established at the college to train Priests and Brothers destined to join overseas missions.

In 2006, St Mary's became a University College and was granted the power to award its own degrees by the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.

Endurance squads from the Chinese and Japanese Olympic teams also elected to be based at St Mary's pre-Games training camp.

[13] St Mary's saw 22 athletes attend both the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games in Rio, topping the record 18 selected for London 2012.

[14] Other medallists included boxer Joshua Buatsi, who achieved Bronze and Simon Amor, who coached the Men's Rugby 7s squad to a silver medal.

[19][22][23] St Mary's University, Twickenham has a highly rated (Ofsted outstanding)[27] teacher training programme and a range of sport and health degrees.

The university also runs a range of short courses and CPD sessions on weekends and during the evenings, including sport, health, nutrition and exercise.

[citation needed] In 2008 the refectory underwent a £4 million investment to create a larger seating area with new kitchen facilities and a conference centre.

The Main Library is at the centre of the Strawberry Hill campus, providing study and IT facilities as well has housing print resources for most disciplines active within the university.

The Naylor Library, opened in 2015, is at 99 Waldegrave Road, Teddington and provides further multi-format study facilities along with print resources related to teacher training and Education programmes.

These facilities formed part of the pre-Games training camp used by Olympic athletes and officials from 10 national teams in the run up to London 2012.

This was named Teddington Lock Sports Campus and now features a mixture of playing fields, all-weather pitches and parking.

A new building was constructed to create a single centre linking new facilities to the existing tennis hall and original 1960s sports block, which underwent refurbishment in 2010.

In addition to being used by students, it is used by local schools, St Mary's Richmond Athletic Club and world class athletes connected to the St Mary's Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) including Mo Farah, Joanne Pavey, Andrew Baddeley, Andrew Osagie and Stephanie Twell.

St Mary's also has extensive sporting facilities five minutes from the main campus at Teddington Lock: over 30 acres (120,000 m2) of playing fields with changing and storage areas, showers and toilets.