Old Buckenham Hall School (commonly known as OBH) is a day and boarding preparatory school with pre-prep for boys and girls in the village of

Brettenham, Suffolk Brettenham is a village and civil parish in the Babergh district of Suffolk, England. In 2005 it had a population of 270,Old Buckenham Hall School, Suffolk, Independent Schools
/ref> The school is located in Brettenham Park, a grade II* listed building in about of parkland in the Suffolk village of Brettenham. Its pupils take the Common Entrance exam, going on to a range of public schools such as

Uppingham Uppingham is a market town in Rutland, England, off the A47 between Leicester and Peterborough, south of the county town, Oakham. It had a population of 4,745 according to the 2011 census, estimated at 4,853 in 2019. It is known for its ep ...

Oundle Oundle () is a market town on the left bank of the River Nene in North Northamptonshire, England, which had a population of 5,735 at the time of the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. It is north of London and south-west of Peterborough ...

, Harrow,

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

Framlingham Framlingham is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4, ...

and The Leys.

History

The school was founded as a

dame school Dame schools were small, privately run schools for young children that emerged in the British Isles and its colonies during the early modern period. These schools were taught by a “school dame,” a local woman who would educate children f ...

in 1862 by Misses Ellen and Margaret Ringer in the Suffolk coastal town of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

in a terraced house on Wellington Esplanade. In 1872 they built South Lodge, and the school was known by the name 'South Lodge Preparatory School'. The school remained there for over 50 years before moving in 1936 to much larger premises at Old Buckenham Hall in the village of

Old Buckenham Old Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately south-west of Norwich. It covers an area of and had a population of 1,294 in 658 households at the 2001 census falling to a population of 1,270 livin ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, previously the residence of financier

Lionel Robinson Lionel Robinson (29 August 1866 – 27 July 1922) was a leading financier in Australia and England who was known for his success in horseracing and his support of cricket, and later served as the High Sheriff of Norfolk. Early life Born in Colomb ...

. In December 1952, disaster struck and the Hall was burnt down by fire. In January of the following year the school found new premises at Merton Hall near

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

. Disaster struck again with a second fire in January 1956. After various options were considered, the school became aware that Brettenham Park in

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

had come onto the market and the property was acquired. The school, by then known as Old Buckenham Hall School, moved there in September 1956. The school has been on this site since, first taking on girls in the 1990s. It became fully co-educational in 1998. The school celebrated its centenary in 1962, which included the commissioning of an anthem setting the text of Psalm 150 by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

, an alumnus. The work was also performed at the school's 150th anniversary celebrations in 2012. The current Headmaster is David Griffiths, who joined OBH from

Daneshill School Stratfield Turgis is a small village and civil parish in the north-east of the English county of Hampshire. History The name of Stratfield Turgis derives from its origins on open land (Old English feld) by the Roman road (Old English stræt) fro ...

where he was Headmaster. He had previously been Deputy Head and Acting Head of St John's on-the-Hill School,

Chepstow Chepstow ( cy, Cas-gwent) is a town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales, adjoining the border with Gloucestershire, England. It is located on the tidal River Wye, about above its confluence with the River Severn, and adjoining the western ...

Present school

The School is currently divided into the three parts: *Nursery (ages 3–4) *Pre-Prep School (Reception – Year 2) *Prep School (Years 3–8) The prep school is also split vertically into four houses: * Jupiter * Mars * Mercury * Saturn These houses were chosen in the 1960s to link the Ancient Greeks and the Space Age.

Facilities and activities

The school makes use of its sports pitches and facilities including three rugby pitches, two football pitches, five football and six hockey pitches, five cricket squares, seven tennis courts, two squash courts, all-weather netball courts, a nine-hole golf course, and an outdoor heated swimming pool. Pupils spend five of six afternoons a week playing games. Pupils at OBH play a wide variety of sports including

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

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 ...

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open coun ...

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and

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 ...

. Being a predominantly day and transitional boarding school, the school offers a wide range of activities for the pupils including

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

, and

clay pigeon shooting Clay pigeon shooting, also known as clay target shooting, is a shooting sport involving shooting a firearm at special flying targets known as clay pigeons, or clay targets. The terminology commonly used by clay shooters often relates to time ...

. The school has landscaped Japanese Gardens (known as 'The Japs'), located to the south of the Stable Yard. There are three ponds on the estate: the island pond, the mirror (South) pond and Dragonfly pond (in the Japanese Gardens). The school maintains an orchard, a historic arboretum, the big woods, two outdoor classrooms, owl boxes, beehives and also keeps chickens and ducks. The school's famous Thatched Pavilion played host to an England XI versus the touring Australian Ashes side in 1921 when it was located in

. The main multi-purpose hall, the Britten Hall, is named for the school's most distinguished alumnus,

. The school is also home to the Brettenham Village Cricket Club and hosts an annual fireworks event for the local community.

Notable former pupils

Jaime Alguersuari Jaime Víctor Alguersuari Escudero (; born 23 March 1990), also known as Jaume Alguersuari (), and Squire is a Spanish DJ and retired racing driver best known for competing in Formula One between and , and for being the 2008 British Formula 3 ...

spent one year at the school *W. J. Birkbeck, scholar of Russia, the Balkans and the Orthodox Church *

George Blagden George Paul Blagden (born 28 December 1989) is an English stage and film actor. He is best known for his role as Louis XIV in the French-produced television series drama ''Versailles.'' He also played Grantaire in the 2012 film adaptation of ...

, actor most famous for his starring role in the BBC series,

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...

* Charles Bowman (Lord Mayor of London) *

, composer *

Robert Brooke-Popham Air Chief Marshal Sir Henry Robert Moore Brooke-Popham, (18 September 1878 – 20 October 1953) was a senior commander in the Royal Air Force. During the First World War he served in the Royal Flying Corps as a wing commander and senior staff o ...

, Governor of Singapore *

Harry Judd Harry Mark Christopher Judd (born 23 December 1985) is an English musician, dancer and author. He is the drummer for the band McFly. Judd won the 2011 series of ''Strictly Come Dancing''. Judd published his first book, ''Get Fit Get Happy'', in ...

, drummer for

McFly McFly are an English pop rock band formed in London in 2003. The band took their name from the '' Back to the Future'' character Marty McFly. The band consists of Tom Fletcher (lead vocals, guitar, and piano), Danny Jones (lead vocals, har ...

and

McBusted McBusted were an English pop-punk supergroup composed of members from bands McFly (Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd) and Busted (James Bourne and Matt Willis). The only member of the original groups not participating ...

* Bill Sharpe, founder member of

Shakatak Shakatak is an English jazz-funk band founded in 1980 by Nigel Wright and former Wigan Casino DJ Kev Roberts. Following an initial white label release 'Steppin', the band's name was derived from a record store in Soho, London Record Shack. I ...

Clive Stafford Smith Clive Adrian Stafford Smith (born 9 July 1959) is a British attorney who specialises in the areas of civil rights and working against the death penalty in the United States of America. He worked to overturn death sentences for convicts, and h ...

, human rights lawyer *

Laura Wright Laura Wright (née Sisk) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Ally Rescott on ''Loving (TV series), Loving'' (1991–1995) and ''The City (1995 TV series), The City'' (1995–1997), Cassie Layne Winslow on ''Guidin ...

, singer from

All Angels All Angels were a British classical crossover group formed in 2006, consisting of Daisy Chute, Laura Wright, Rachel Fabri, Melanie Nakhla and actress Charlotte Ritchie. The group's style was classical crossover music and close harmony arrang ...

Tom West Joseph Thomas West III (November 22, 1939 – May 19, 2011) was a technologist and the protagonist of the Pulitzer Prize winning non-fiction book '' The Soul of a New Machine''. West began his career in computer design at RCA, after seven y ...

, Wasps and England Rugby Union player

Head Masters

"Five heads in 130 years" is the subtitle of J. D. Sewell's 1992 history of the school. 1862–1890 Ellen and Margaret Ringer (However "there was only one master, Mr Annesley") 1891–1923 The Rev. W. Richmond Phillips 1923–1967 Thomas J. Elliott Sewell 1967–1991 J. Donald Sewell 1991–1997 Hugh Cocke 1997–2010 Martin Ives 2010–2014 John A. Brett 2015–2018 Thomas O'Sullivan 2018–2023 David W. Griffiths 2023– James Large

Brettenham Park

Entrance to Old Buckenham Hall School - geograph

The school has occupied Brettenham Park since 1956. It was purchased from the Warner family, whose lineage includes

Courtenay Warner Colonel Sir Thomas Courtenay Theydon Warner, 1st Baronet (19 July 1857 – 15 December 1934) was a British politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Somerset from 1892 to 1895, and for Lichfield from 1896 to 1923. Warn ...

, and from whom the school derives its coat of arms and motto. The Grade II* listed house is of C16 origin and built upon the site of a much earlier residence. It was enlarged in the C19 as the residence of

Joseph Bonaparte it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte , house = Bonaparte , father = Carlo Buonaparte , mother = Letizia Ramolino , birth_date = 7 January 1768 , birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...

References

External links

School WebsiteProfile
on the

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

website
Profile
on the ''

Good Schools Guide ''The Good Schools Guide'' is a guide to British schools, both state and independent. Overview The guide is compiled by a team of editors which, according to the official website, "''comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and contri ...

''
Profile
on

Tatler ''Tatler'' is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interes ...

{{Schools in Suffolk Preparatory schools in Suffolk Boarding schools in Suffolk 1862 establishments in England Educational institutions established in 1862 * Brettenham, Suffolk Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk