Cranborne Chase School was 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 ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

for girls, originally opened in 1946 at

Crichel House Crichel House is a Grade I listed, Classical Revival country house near the village of Moor Crichel in Dorset, England. The house has an entrance designed by Thomas Hopper and interiors by James Wyatt. It is surrounded by of parkland, which ...

in the village of

Moor Crichel Moor Crichel () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Crichel, in East Dorset, England situated on Cranborne Chase five miles east of Blandford Forum. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Manswood notable for a terrace o ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

. In 1961, the school moved to

New Wardour Castle New Wardour Castle is a Grade I listed English country house at Wardour, near Tisbury in Wiltshire, built for the Arundell family. The house is of Palladian style, designed by the architect James Paine, with additions by Giacomo Quarenghi, wh ...

near Tisbury in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, and extensively renovated the building, which had fallen into a severe state of disrepair. In 1985 there were 130 girls, aged between 11 and 18 years, and 26 teachers at the school. The school eventually closed in July 1990.

Wardour facilities

(not to be confused with

Wardour Castle Wardour Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle at Wardour, on the boundaries of the civil parishes of Tisbury and Donhead St Andrew in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Salisbury. The castle was built in the 1390s, came into th ...

) there were

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

for girls in the 1st to 4th Forms around the top fourth floor of the building, each with beds for between two and six girls. Fifth Formers slept on the

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian language, Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft ...

floor below this. The Lower Sixth Form had studios for one or two girls in a modern extension on the south-eastern side of the building. Upper Sixth formers all had their own individual rooms in the upper East Wing flat or in a separate building known as 'The Hexagon' ( The Hexagon was used as accommodation for staff in the late-1970s). Pupils ate in the modern dining hall built on the south-eastern side of the building, next to the

gym A gymnasium, also known as a gym, is an indoor location for athletics. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasium". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learning spaces in educational ins ...

nasium. This extension had additional modern classrooms for Art and Science. All other classrooms were in the main building on the ground and first floors. A student assembly was held most mornings around the rotunda staircase, with each year standing in groups between the columns. This usually included a short religious ceremony and singing accompaniment on the rotunda organ. Other facilities included a school chapel and student laundry rooms. Each year had its own

common room A common room is a type of shared lounge, most often found in halls of residence or dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. They are generally con ...

to relax in, when not in class. Outside, there was an open-air swimming pool in the

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

, six

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles matches. A variety of surfaces can be u ...

s and a running track, with space for field sports on the front lawn. There was also an enclosure for outdoor pets, which students were encouraged to keep. In addition to the Hexagon building, there were three houses for staff and their families. These were built in the 1970s and were referred to as Melbury, LongAsh (Long Ash was used for 6th form students in the late-1970s) a grea and Burwood. Other staff lived in flats within the main building or else commuted from the surrounding area. Other outdoor features included a bicycle shed, a

water well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. Th ...

, a temple

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

, a

Camellia ''Camellia'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Theaceae. They are found in eastern and southern Asia, from the Himalayas east to Japan and Indonesia. There are more than 220 described species, with some controversy ...

house, and a

sewage treatment Sewage treatment (or domestic wastewater treatment, municipal wastewater treatment) is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable for discharge to the surrounding envir ...

works and an ice house.

Notable former pupils

Josceline Dimbleby Josceline Rose Dimbleby (née Gaskell; born 1943) is a British cookery writer. She has written seventeen cookery books, and was cookery correspondent of ''The Sunday Telegraph'' for 15 years. Early life and education Dimbleby was born in 1943. S ...

, cookery writer *

Mandy Ford Amanda Kirstine Ford (known as Mandy; born 1961) is a British Anglican priest who has served as Dean of Bristol since 3 October 2020. Early life and education Ford was born in 1961 in Wool, Dorset, England. Her father was Sir David Frost, an arm ...

, Anglican priest * Princess

Tatiana von Fürstenberg Princess Tatiana Desirée von Fürstenberg (''Tatiana Desirée Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg''; born February 16, 1971) is an American art curator, singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and filmmaker. Early life and family Von Fürstenberg ...

, singer, actress and socialite * Amaryllis Garnett, actress *

Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater of Butterstone Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater of Butterstone (15 April 1943 – 15 December 2022) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords. Her career indicates her interests in children's welfare, education and speci ...

(1943–2022), a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords *

Roxanna Panufnik Roxanna Panufnik (born 24 April 1968) is a British composer of Polish heritage. She is the daughter of the composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik and his second wife Camilla, née Jessel. Panufnik was born in London. She attended Bedales ...

, composer *

Jane Ridley Jane Ridley (born 15 May 1953) is an English historian, biographer, author and broadcaster, and Professor of Modern History at the University of Buckingham. Ridley won the Duff Cooper Prize in 2002 for ''The Architect and his Wife'', a biography ...

, author, biographer, commentator and Professor of Modern History at the

University of Buckingham , mottoeng = Flying on Our Own Wings , established = 1973; as university college1983; as university , type = Private , endowment = , administrative_staff = 97 academic, 103 support , chance ...

Joanna Waley-Cohen Joanna Waley-Cohen (born 1952) is the Provost for New York University Shanghai and Silver Professor of History at New York University, where she has taught Chinese history since 1992. As Provost, she serves as NYU Shanghai's chief academic office ...

, professor of history at New York University *

Harriet Walter Dame Harriet Mary Walter (born 24 September 1950) is a British actress. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 20 ...

, actress *

Iona Brown Iona Brown, OBE, (7 January 19415 June 2004) was a British violinist and conductor. Early life and education Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury and was educated at Cranborne Chase School, Dorset. Her parents, Antony and Fiona, were b ...

, conductor and violinist * Madeleine Redfern, Mayor, City of Iqaluit

Aftermath

Betty Galton, the founding headmistress of Cranborne Chase School died in December 2005.''The Bryanston Newsletter'' - Winter 2006 - Pg. 6 (bottom-right)
Publisher: ''

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928 ...

'', Blandford Forum, Dorset. Published: Winter 2006. Retrieved: 4 March 2014. The 2009 movie,

Tanner Hall Tanner Hall (born October 26, 1983) is an American freeskier. Biography Hall, nicknamed 'Ski Boss', was born in Kalispell, Montana where he grew up skiing at Big Mountain, now named Whitefish Mountain Resort, starting at age three. He joine ...

, written and co-directed by alumna Tatiana von Furstenberg, was loosely based on her experiences as a pupil there.

References

External links

Wiltshire Community History
{{authority control Boarding schools in Dorset Boarding schools in Wiltshire Defunct schools in Dorset Defunct schools in Wiltshire Girls' schools in Dorset Girls' schools in Wiltshire Educational institutions established in 1946 Educational institutions disestablished in 1990 1990 disestablishments in England Defunct boarding schools in England 1946 establishments in England