In 1885, Thames became the location of one of 30 national Schools of Mines, opened to stimulate the returns from mining. In 1886, this school moved to its permanent site in a former Wesleyan Sunday School. Additional buildings included the 1888 Experimental Metallurgical Works, and the Mineral Museum built in 1900. The school’s curriculum expanded to embrace agricultural science, pharmacology, and other engineering disciplines before it eventually closed in 1954.