Cobham Hall School is an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

day and boarding school for girls in the English parish of

Cobham, Kent Cobham () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the borough of Gravesham in Kent, England. The village is located south-east of Gravesend, and just south of Watling Street, the Roman road from Dover to London. The parish, ...

. It is a

Round Square Round Square is an international network of schools, based on the educational concepts of Kurt Hahn, and named after a distinctive building at Gordonstoun. Founded by a group of seven schools in the late 1960s, by 1996 it had grown to 20 member ...

school and a member of the

Girls' Schools Association The Girls' Schools Association (GSA) is a professional association of the heads of independent girls' schools. It is a constituent member of the Independent Schools Council. History The GSA can trace its history back to the Association of Headm ...

. The school is housed in

Cobham Hall Cobham Hall is an English country house in the county of Kent, England. The grade I listed building is one of the largest and most important houses in Kent, re-built as an Elizabethan prodigy house by William Brooke, 10th Baron Cobham (1527 ...

, a

Tudor era The Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603 in England and Wales and includes the Elizabethan period during the reign of Elizabeth I until 1603. The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England that began with th ...

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

situated in 150 acres of historic parkland on the edge of the Kent Downs. The school featured in the film '' Wild Child'' in 2008, as the fictional school that the characters attended, called Abbey Mount. On 23 February 2021 it was announced that the school would become part of the

Mill Hill School Mill Hill School is a 13–18 mixed independent, day and boarding school in Mill Hill, London, England that was established in 1807. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History A committee of Nonconformist me ...

Foundation.

School

Cobham Hall was founded as an international boarding school for girls aged between eleven and eighteen by Bhicoo Batlivala in 1962. The school now accepts both day girls and boarding students. The school has a large contingent of international students, with approximately 25 nationalities represented. Just over 50% are British.

Curriculum

Girls in Years 7 to 9 follow the English National Curriculum. Girls in Middle School (up to Year 11) follow the

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

curriculum. From September 2018, Sixth Form pupils will be studying A Levels. The A Levels will be the academic portion of a broad curriculum, which also encompasses the Extended Project Qualification, PSHE, Theory of Knowledge, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award or Service, and Sport. The school has a specialist EFL Department, as well as a CReSTeD accredited Student Support Department. The school also offers a one-year GCSE/IGCSE course, a Pre-A Level Course and an Intensive English Support Programme for those whose first language is not English.

The building

There has been a

on the site since the 12th century. The current building consists of a pair of 16th-century Tudor wings and a later classical central block, the 'Cross Wing'. Alterations were made by

Sir William Chambers __NOTOC__ Sir William Chambers (23 February 1723 – 10 March 1796) was a Swedish-Scottish architect, based in London. Among his best-known works are Somerset House, and the pagoda at Kew. Chambers was a founder member of the Royal Academy. Biog ...

, c. 1767–70 The most notable feature of the interior is the two-storey Gilt Hall, c, 1770–81. The fourth earl of Darnley, who inherited in 1781, employed the architect

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

extensively. The landscape designer

Humphry Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...

was hired to draw up a plan for the estate and two of his sons designed features of the building. Cobham Hall remained the family home of the

Earls of Darnley Earl of Darnley is a hereditary title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of Scotland and once in the Peerage of Ireland. The first creation in the Scots Peerage came in 1580 in favour of Esme Stewart, 1st Earl of Lennox ...

until 1957 and is now home to the school. As of 2014 it was open to the public on a limited number of days each year. The building has been used as a film set. A scene in ''

Agent Cody Banks 2 ''Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London'' is a 2004 American action comedy buddy film and the sequel to the 2003 film ''Agent Cody Banks''. Directed by Kevin Allen and written by Don Rhymer, the film stars Frankie Muniz, Anthony Anderson, Hannah ...

'' in which

Frankie Muniz Francisco Muniz IV (; born December 5, 1985) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the title character in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2006), which earned him an Emmy Award nomination and two Golden Globe Award n ...

fights Keith Allen in a room full of priceless treasures was filmed in the Gilt Hall. Scenes from an adaption of ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

'' were filmed outside the building, and it was used in a few scenes in the comedy sketch show ''

Tittybangbang ''Tittybangbang'' is a female-led BBC television sketch comedy show, featuring Lucy Montgomery and Debbie Chazen. It ran between 2005 and 2007 on BBC Three. The show was largely written by Bob Mortimer and Jill Parker and produced by their comp ...

''. The Hall is used as the school 'Abbey Mount' in the 2008 film '' Wild Child'' starring Emma Roberts and as the

Foundling Hospital The Foundling Hospital in London, England, was founded in 1739 by the philanthropic sea captain Thomas Coram. It was a children's home established for the "education and maintenance of exposed and deserted young children." The word "hospital" w ...

in the CBBC adaptation of ''

Hetty Feather ''Hetty Feather'' is a book by English author Jacqueline Wilson. It is about a young red-haired girl who was left by her mother at the Foundling Hospital as a baby and follows her story as she lives in a foster home before returning to the Fou ...

''.

Notable alumnae

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, jewelry designer *

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, journalist *

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, Bishop of Reading *

Mishal Husain Mishal Husain (born 11 February 1973) is a British newsreader and journalist for BBC Television and BBC Radio. She is the main Sunday presenter of the ''BBC News at Ten'' and ''BBC Weekend News'' and one of the main presenters of BBC Radio 4's ' ...

, news presenter *

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, television news presenter * Annabel Heseltine, journalist and broadcaster *

Jane Percy, Duchess of Northumberland Isobel Jane Miller Percy, Duchess of Northumberland (née Richard; born 11 May 1958), is a British aristocrat and businesswoman. She has served as Lord Lieutenant of Northumberland since 2009, and is best known for redeveloping The Alnwick Gard ...

Mary Ann Sieghart Mary Ann Corinna Howard Sieghart (born 6 August 1961) is an England, English author, journalist, radio presenter and former assistant editor of ''The Times'', where she wrote columns about politics, social affairs and life in general. She has al ...

, journalist *

Kate French Kate Lauren French is an American actress and model. She is perhaps best known for her role as Niki Stevens on ''The L Word''. Early life Kate Lauren French was born in Flemington, New Jersey. Career Following in her parents' footsteps, Frenc ...

, modern pentathlete *

Isabel dos Santos Isabel dos Santos (; born 20 April 1973) is an Angolan businesswoman, the eldest child of Angola's former President José Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled the country as a dictator from 1979 to 2017. Once considered Africa's richest woman accordi ...

, daughter of the former President of Angola, and billionaire businesswoman *

Romina Power Romina Francesca Power (born October 2, 1951) is an American actress and singer born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Hollywood matinée idol Tyrone Power and actress Linda Christian. With then-husband Albano Carrisi, she for ...

, daughter of

Tyrone Power Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include '' Jesse James'', ...

, American-Italian singer known internationally as Al Bano and Romina Power *

Catherine Fall, Baroness Fall Catherine Susan "Kate" Fall, Baroness Fall (born 1967) is a British peer and political advisor. She served as Deputy Chief of Staff for David Cameron when he was prime minister and became a life peer in September 2015. Early life Born in 196 ...

References

External links

*
Cobham Hall School official website
* ISI Inspectio
ReportProfile
on the

ISC #REDIRECT ISC {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from ambiguous page ...

website {{authority control Grade I listed buildings in Kent Gravesham Country houses in Kent Boarding schools in Kent Girls' schools in Kent Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Round Square schools International Baccalaureate schools in England Independent schools in Kent Educational institutions established in 1962 Grade I listed houses in Kent 1962 establishments in England