  university of wales, lampeter () was a university in lampeter, wales. founded in 1822 by royal charter, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in wales and was the third oldest in england and wales after oxford and cambridge. in 2010 it merged with trinity university college (under its 1822 charter) to create the university of wales, trinity saint david. the university was founded in as st david's college (coleg dewi sant), becoming st david's university college (coleg prifysgol dewi sant) in 1971, when it became part of the federal university of wales. with fewer than 2,000 students on campus, it was often claimed to be one of the smallest public universities in europe. == history == when thomas burgess was appointed bishop of st david's in 1803, he saw a need for a college in which welsh ordinands could receive a higher education. the existing colleges at oxford and cambridge were out of the geographical and financial means of most would-be students. burgess had no welsh connections; he was born in england in 1756 and, after winchester and oxford, he had short stays in salisbury and durham before being appointed to his first bishopric in wales in 1803. burgess intended to build his new college to train priests in llanddewi brefi which, at the time, was similar in size to lampeter but ten kilometres from it and with an 
Bible_colleges,_seminaries_and_theological_colleges_in_Wales Educational_institutions_established_in_1822 Organisations_based_in_Wales_with_royal_patronage Universities_in_Wales University_of_Wales University_of_Wales,_Lampeter University_of_Wales,_Trinity_Saint_David