Trophy Cabinet - RCS Three Handled Pot

Sadly, not the original which was stolen. The 3HP as its name is customarily abbreviated, was never recovered from the RCSA’s ‘Goodbye to RCS’ Annual Dinner which mourned the Royal College of Science being split into faculties of Life Sciences and of Physical Sciences in 2002. There is still a reward offered for its safe return! along with its base which was also stolen.

The original was described thus: “The Pot is made of Pewter and has a Glass Bottom. It has Three Handles, each approximately equidistant around its circumference, and can hold roughly 3 pints of beer. Its main distinguishing features are a large engraving of the RCS Crown, as well as the names of all Executive Committees from the Mid 60's up until the Late 70's/Early 80's”. The conical wooden base with shield-shaped plaques for each exec was donated by Chris (now Lord) Fox, Martin Watson and Jon Hall in 1979.

The current incarnation of the 3HP in the trophy cabinet is a pretty good replica of the original, perhaps a little narrower and a little taller than it used to be. It is dubbed the RCSA Centenary Three-Handled Pot and was donated by the RCSA on the occasion of their 100th anniversary on 9th Dec 2008. The 3HP is no longer engraved with the names of the RCSU executive.

When the 3HP was made in March 1966 it was, most unusually, presented to Stan Kearns of Southside Bar for safekeeping. But that arrangement wasn’t to last. The 3HP soon made its way over to this Bar where it joined the rest of the RCS pewterware.

By 2008, College had seen the error of their ways and had re-combined the two faculties into the unromantically named Faculty of Natural Sciences (FoNS). The recombined ‘Faculty Student’s Union’ was, after a popular vote, given the name ‘Royal College of Science Union’ once more.