Casterton School was an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years in the village of Casterton in rural

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

. In its final years it also admitted boys, up to the age of 11. The school ceased to exist in 2013, though a preparatory school remains on the site. It merged with

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

, whose junior section now occupies the campus while Casterton's senior school pupils moved to the Sedbergh site.

History

Casterton School was founded in 1823 by Rev Carus Wilson as the

Clergy Daughters' School Cowan Bridge School refers to the Clergy Daughters' School, a school mainly for the daughters of middle class clergy founded in the 1820s. It was first located in the village of Cowan Bridge in the English county of Lancashire, where it was ...

in Cowan Bridge to educate daughters of financially disadvantaged clergymen. It moved to its site at Casterton in 1833. Four of the Brontë sisters (Maria, Elizabeth,

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

and Emily) attended the former Cowan Bridge School. A stone inscription to commemorate this is present at the original site and the former school at Casterton continued to acknowledge the literary connection by naming buildings accordingly until its closure. In 2000 boys were admitted to the junior school. Following a decline in pupil numbers, in March 2013 a merger was announced with

, effective from September 2013. Casterton's preparatory department remained on its site as Sedbergh's junior school was moved there, under the new name "Casterton, Sedbergh Preparatory School". Some of the Senior pupils transferred to the main campus in Sedbergh. File:Casterton_Front_Door.jpg, Casterton School File:Casterton_School_Entrance.jpg, Main Entrance File:Bronte_House.jpg, Bronte House File:Memorial_Window.jpg, Memorial Window

School song

The «Casterton School Song», has lyrics describing the surrounding area and a rousing chorus of 'Casterton, Casterton, Casterton, our school'. The lyrics were written by John Webster, Head of English and the music was written by Alvin Atkins, Head of Music. The song was sung at major school events such as Founder's Day and Speech Day. It was recorded in 1964, sung by the Girls of Casterton School.

References

External links

Casterton Old Girls AssociationCasterton School SongCasterton School Map
{{authority control Boarding schools in Cumbria Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Defunct schools in Cumbria Defunct boarding schools in England Educational institutions established in 1823 Educational institutions disestablished in 2013