Earl Camden was just then making arrangements to develop some fields he owned to the north of London, and he replied to the college's newspaper advertisement for a suitable site with an offer to sell it some of his land.

The site was rural, but urban developments appeared on all sides in the early decades of the 19th century, creating Camden Town.

Charles Benoit Vial de St Bel of the Lyon establishment was appointed as the first principal of the new college.

The original building was a quadrangle in a neoclassical style, and there was a paddock on the opposite side of Royal College Street, but this was later sold for housing development.

In 1865 RVC Professor James Beart Simonds was appointed as the first Chief Inspector and Veterinary Advisor to the Privy council, with particular regard to cattle plague.

A fund-raising scheme for the total rebuilding of the college was launched by the new principal, Professor Sir Frederick Hobday.

[7] During the Second World War, the RVC evacuated to Streatley, Berkshire, although the Beaumont Animals' Hospital remained open at Camden Town.

The skeleton of the famous racehorse Eclipse, dissected in 1789 by St. Bel was once more the property of the RVC and was placed on display in the museum at Hawkshead.

In 2005 the Duchess of Cornwall visited the Hawkshead Campus as new Patron of the Royal Veterinary College Animal Care Trust.

The 1930s buildings on Royal College Street in Camden Town, near St Pancras railway station remain, with minor extensions.

The Hawkshead Campus is located in Brookmans Park, rural Hertfordshire, about 17 miles (27 km) north of central London, was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1959.

The college also offers the Gateway course; the first year of an extended six-year veterinary degree programme, created for students who are part of the UK Widening Participation cohort.

It is designed to equip students with the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to join a career-building veterinary degree course.

There is a distance learning department and the Graduate School provides masters courses, PhD studentships and clinical training scholarships in a wide range of disciplines.

The college's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Unit is a major academic provider of educational services to the veterinary community.

[citation needed] It is a self-governing college within the University of London and its scientists work together in interdisciplinary teams within one research division.

Understanding how animals and people move is fundamental to musculoskeletal health and diseases that result from ageing, physical activity and the environment.

The leaders of this Centre of Excellence are at the forefront of developing technologies to study animal movement, which are used in both basic and applied research.