(To do good and be happy) , established = 1909 , closed = 2003 , type = Independent , religious_affiliation =

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

, president = , head_label = , head = , r_head_label = , r_head = , chair_label = , chair = , founder = Mary B. Wolseley-Lewis

Gillian Avery Gillian Elise Avery (30 September 1926 – 31 January 2016) was a British children's novelist, and a historian of childhood education and children's literature. She won the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize in 1972, for ''A Likely Lad.'' It w ...

, ''The Best Type of Girl: a history of girls' independent schools'' (André Deutsch, 1991), pp. 77 & 147 , specialist = , address = , city = Originally at

North Foreland North Foreland is a chalk headland on the Kent coast of southeast England, specifically in Broadstairs. With the rest of Broadstairs and part of Ramsgate it is the eastern side of Kent's largest peninsula, the Isle of Thanet. It presents a bo ...

Isle of Thanet The Isle of Thanet () is a peninsula forming the easternmost part of Kent, England. While in the past it was separated from the mainland by the Wantsum Channel, it is no longer an island. Archaeological remains testify to its settlement in anc ...

, Kent;
from 1947 at

Sherfield on Loddon Sherfield on Loddon—formerly ''Sherfield upon Loddon''—is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. It is located at , approximately south of Reading and north of Basingstoke. At the 2001 census it had a pop ...

, county =

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, country = England , postcode = RG27 , ofsted = , staff = , enrolment = , gender = , lower_age = , upper_age = , houses = , colours = , publication = , free_label_1 = , free_1 = , free_label_2 = , free_2 = , free_label_3 = , free_3 = , website = North Foreland Lodge was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

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 in England, originally established at

in Kent. Displaced from there by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in 1947 it settled at Sherfield Manor in

, Hampshire, until its closure in 2003 shortly after being acquired by another school,

Gordonstoun Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...

. In 2004 Gordonstoun sold the school site to a group of schools called Gems Education (an international company which runs schools in the Middle East), which converted it into a new mixed-sex independent school called

Sherfield School Sherfield School is a coeducational independent day & boarding school, located in Sherfield Manor by Sherfield on Loddon in the English county of Hampshire. and set in 76 acres of parkland. It is currently a school of over 400 pupils founded in ...

History

The school was founded in 1909 at North Foreland, near

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

in Kent, by Mary Wolseley-Lewis, who at the time was the head of the

Francis Holland School Francis Holland School is the name of two separate private day schools for girls in central London, England, governed by the Francis Holland (Church of England) Schools Trust. The schools are located at Clarence Gate (near Regent's Park NW1) ...

in Graham Street,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, SW1. This event came as a shock to the Francis Holland School, especially when its departing head took several girls and members of staff with her. Miss Wolseley-Lewis had herself been educated by

Dorothea Beale Dorothea Beale LL.D. (21 March 1831 – 9 November 1906) was a suffragist, educational reformer and author. As Principal of Cheltenham Ladies' College, she became the founder of St Hilda's College, Oxford. Early and family life Dorothea Beale w ...

Cheltenham Ladies College Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Consistently ranked as one of the top all-girls' schools nationally, the school was established in 1853 to pr ...

. The ''Journal of Education'' reported on the opening of the school:''Journal of Education'', vol. 31 (Oxford University Press, 1909), p. 176 As a result of the Second World War, the school had to evacuate its premises in Kent, and it then had several temporary homes, including a hotel. After the War, in 1947, the school bought as a permanent home Sherfield Manor, which during the War had served as a military hospital, and continued to occupy it for more than fifty years, extending the buildings to more than .Richard Garfield
Noble and rich history of Sherfield Manor
dated 26 March 2009 at basingstokegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2012 On 3 December 1981

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...

, who had been educated at North Foreland Lodge in the 1950s, opened the school's new music wing.'Court Circular' in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' (London), issue 61099 dated 4 December 1981, p. 12 By 1982 there were 160 girls, all of whom were boarders. The core curriculum consisted of English, French, mathematics, history, geography, biology, chemistry, physics, and religious knowledge. Other subjects taught included

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, Italian, Russian, Spanish,

classical studies Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

history of art The history of art focuses on objects made by humans for any number of spiritual, narrative, philosophical, symbolic, conceptual, documentary, decorative, and even functional and other purposes, but with a primary emphasis on its aesthetic vis ...

, music, sociology, and

computer studies Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (including t ...

. About half of the girls learnt a musical instrument, and the main school sports were

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

, tennis,

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

, swimming, and

rounders Rounders is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams. Rounders is a striking and fielding team game that involves hitting a small, hard, leather-cased ball with a rounded end wooden, plastic, or metal bat. The players score by running aroun ...

. By 1989 overall numbers were up to 189, with fifty girls in the

sixth form In the education systems of England, Northern Ireland, Wales, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and some other Commonwealth countries, sixth form represents the final two years of secondary education, ages 16 to 18. Pupils typically prepare for A-l ...

. In 1995, North Foreland Lodge was reported to be one of the few schools willing to accommodate pet rabbits. A charge of £2 per rabbit per term was made for sawdust and straw. In the year 2000, the school was in the news when it was revealed that

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to ...

had given permission for its girls to perform a dramatisation of her ''

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers hi ...

'', and was in the news again two weeks later when Rowling changed her mind at the last minute, after realising that this would be a

world premiere A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition. A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its f ...

.David Charter, 'Rowling to visit school after banning its Potter play' in ''The Times'' (London) dated 25 October 2000, p. 9
(The Goat Pen Archives).
/ref> Rowling arranged a personal visit to the school by way of apology. Headmistress Susan Cameron commented to ''

'' "We were over the moon when we got permission, so this was a real bolt from the blue, like the magic wand of an evil wizard." 3B9A1828 da

In 2002 the school was in financial difficulties, largely due to leading boys' schools becoming mixed and parents moving girls to them to take their

A-Levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

School, supported by some members of the school's own governing body, made a bid to acquire it, and the success of this bid was announced in March 2002, when it was revealed that a new mixed-sex prep school was to be built in the grounds of Sherfield Manor and that North Foreland would continue as a girls-only senior school. A further announcement in ''The Times'' on 17 April 2002 stated that "The School is now one of the Gordonstoun Schools", adding that

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...

would present the prizes at Carnival Day on 6 July. However, a year after Gordonstoun had bought North Foreland Lodge for a figure reported to be £1 million, the school was closed, leading to allegations of

asset stripping Asset stripping is a term used to refer to the practice of selling off a company's assets in order to improve returns for equity investors. In many cases where the term is used, a financial investor, referred to as a 'corporate raider', takes cont ...

. Wendy Wallace, 'Independents' Day' in ''The Times'' (London), issue 68291 dated 22 January 2005, pp. 30–31 In January 2004 the school's site was sold to the Varkeys group for £6 million. In February 2004 a company named GEMS Education acquired the former school, re-opening it for business in September as

, a co-educational day school for children of all ages. In 2005 ''The Times'' reported that the new school had been planned to cater for 1,500 children but was failing to reach "critical mass", with the small numbers appearing forlorn. A North Foreland Lodge Hundredth Anniversary drinks party was held in London on 5 March 2009.

Headmistresses

*1909–1931: Mary Wolseley-Lewis (born 1865, died 1955) *1943–1967: Fenella M. Gammell *1967–1983: Dorothea Rosemary Katharine Irvine MA (

Oxon. The system of academic degrees at the University of Oxford can be confusing to those not familiar with it. This is not merely because many degree titles date from the Middle Ages, but also because many changes have been haphazardly introduced in r ...

), (born 1922, known as Rosemary Irvine)David Freeman, ed., ''Choosing the right school: a parents guide'' (1983)
p. 82
/ref> *1983–1996: Diana Matthews *1996–2002: Susan Ruth Cameron

Notable former pupils

:''In chronological order; see also :People educated at North Foreland Lodge'' * Angela Pery, Countess of Limerick (1897–1981), Chairman of Standing Committee of International Red Cross, 1965–1973 * Dame Janet Vaughan (1899–1993), physiologist and Principal of

Somerville College, Oxford Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...

Princess Katherine of Greece and Denmark Princess Katherine of Greece and DenmarkMarlene A. Eilers, ''Queen Victoria's Descendants'' (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987), page 165. ( el, Αικατερίνη; 4 May 1913 – 2 October 2007), styled in the United King ...

(1913–2007), daughter of

King Constantine I of Greece Constantine I ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Αʹ, ''Konstantínos I''; – 11 January 1923) was King of Greece from 18 March 1913 to 11 June 1917 and from 19 December 1920 to 27 September 1922. He was commander-in-chief of the Hellenic Army ...

* Sarah Churchill (1914–1982), actress, daughter of

Sir Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...

Princess Frederica of Hanover English: Frederica Sophie Marie Henrietta Amelia Theresa , image = Princess Frederica of Hanover.jpg , caption = Princess Frederica, 1885 , spouse = , issue = Baroness Victoria , house = Hanover , father ...

(1917–1981), later Queen of Greece as wife of King Paul of Greece * Lady Elizabeth Montagu (1917–2006), novelist and teacher at the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...

Diana Parikian Diana Margaret Parikian (née Carbutt, formerly Marriner; 20 October 1926 – 3 April 2012) was a British antiquarian bookseller. Early life Parikian was born in London, the eldest daughter of George Carbutt, a chartered accountant. She grew up i ...

(1926–2012), antiquarian bookseller *

Penelope Hobhouse Penelope Hobhouse MBE (born 20 November 1929), née Chichester-Clark, is a British garden writer, designer, lecturer and television presenter. Early life Born into an Anglo-Irish family in Moyola Park, Castledawson, she is the daughter of James ...

(born 1929), garden writer and designer and television presenter *

Althea Wynne Althea Kathleen Wynne (6 October 1936 – 24 January 2012), also known by her married names of Dresman and Barrington Brown, was an English sculptor and art teacher, and a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. She specialized in ...

(1936–2012), sculptor *

(born 1940)'Queen Margrethe II of Denmark' in ''Current Biography Yearbook'', vol, 33 (H. W. Wilson Company, 1972), p. 306

History

Headmistresses

Notable former pupils

References

External links