RG wanted to establish a 'rural university' camparable to the Danish Folk High Schools, the Musikheim at Frankfort der Oder, and the Boberhaus at Lowenberg, Silesia. He was also influenced by contempory efforts to relieve unemployment and revive local communities by means of work camps. He was able to put some of these ideas into effect when he purchased the Springhead estate, which he dedicated, in September 1933, as a center to train men and women 'for the weal of Wessex'. A group of friends, who supported these aims, constituted themselves as the first 'Wessex Center Group', and in 1934 as the 'Springhead Ring'. Although RG never got the official funding he sought to create a permanent training center, the estate was used for work camps and choral festivals, especially the latter.