Queen Mary's 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 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 Baldersby Park near Topcliffe, between

Ripon Ripon () is a cathedral city in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. The city is located at the confluence of two tributaries of the River Ure, the Laver and Skell. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the city ...

and

Thirsk Thirsk is a market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England known for its racecourse; quirky yarnbomber displays, and depiction as local author James Herriot's fictional Darrowby. History Archeological ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. Established in 1921, the school is set on of landscaped grounds and houses approximately 300 pupils. It caters to girls aged 3 to 16 and boys up to age 7. The school is a member of the

Woodard Corporation Woodard Schools is a group of Anglican schools (both primary and secondary) affiliated to the Woodard Corporation (formerly the Society of St Nicolas) which has its origin in the work of Nathaniel Woodard, a Church of England priest in the Anglo-C ...

and attended the 200th anniversary of the birth of the movement's founder in 2011. In 2015 the school celebrated its 90th anniversary.

History

In 1925 the Woodard Corporation established a girls' preparatory boarding school in the mansion of

Duncombe Park Duncombe Park is the seat of the Duncombe family who previously held the Earldom of Feversham. The title became extinct on the death of the 3rd Earl in 1963, since when the family have continued to hold the title Baron Feversham. The park is si ...

, near

Helmsley Helmsley is a market town and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is located at the point where Ryedale leaves the moorland and joins the flat Vale of Pi ...

. The number of pupils increased from 23 to 59 after one year and in 1931 the School of Duncombe Park was renamed Queen Mary's School. In 1979 a senior school was added to the preparatory school. In 1985 the lease on Duncombe Park expired and the school moved to Baldersby Park.

Baldersby Park

Baldersby Park, formerly known as Newby Park, covers an area of some 200 acres, which includes the site of the

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...

of Newby-on-Swale. Baldersby Park House was built in the early 18th century by Sir William Robinson to the designs of

Colen Campbell Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer, credited as a founder of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As well as his architectural ...

. It was the first villa built in England in the

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style. In 1845 Lord de Grey sold Newby Park to the railway magnate

George Hudson George Hudson (probably 10 March 1800 – 14 December 1871) was an English railway financier and politician who, because he controlled a significant part of the railway network in the 1840s, became known as "The Railway King"—a title conferr ...

. Hudson rebuilt the house as Baldersby Park, providing it with a northern front in a

Jacobethan The Jacobethan or Jacobean Revival architectural style is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance (15 ...

style, retaining its Georgian south front. The interior was reconstructed after a fire in 1902. It is now a

Grade I listed building 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 ...

. Since 2010, Baldersby Park has been the location of the Deer Shed Festival, an annual music, arts and science festival attracting up to 10,000 paying attendees each year.

Houses

There are four

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

, which have regular inter-house competitions, including cross-country, drama, music and debating and general knowledge competitions. There are also regular 'house meetings' where senior girls fulfil their inter-house responsibilities. The four houses, named after local

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

s are Byland (blue),

Fountains A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or Spring (hydrology), spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. ...

(yellow), Jervaulx (green) and Rievaulx (red). Traditionally, sisters are in the same house, yet cousins are sometimes in different houses. All

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

s are also assigned to houses and assist the senior girls by mentoring.

Music

The school is well known throughout North Yorkshire for its music especially its Chapel Choir which has released three CDs of music (Praise ye the Lord - 2000, Ave Maria - 2005 and The Turning Stars - 2013) and has contributed to local musicians' CDs such as Spanish guitarist

Eduardo Niebla Eduardo Niebla is a Spanish guitarist. Besides his work with jazz and Spanish flamenco guitar, he has collaborated with trance group Juno Reactor and early in his career played in Spanish progressive rock band Atila, and the Franco-British progres ...

. They feature in his 2010 album 'My Gypsy Waltz'.

Old Girls

The Queen Mary's Association (formerly known as the Duncombists) is the Old Girls Association for the school. In 2014 it was relaunched ahead of the schools 90th Birthday in 2015. To celebrate the 90th Anniversary the QMA is organizing a number of events including a return visit to Duncombe Park as well as a reunion at the school.

References

External links

*
Profile
on the

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

website {{authority control Girls' schools in North Yorkshire Boarding schools in North Yorkshire Independent schools in North Yorkshire Educational institutions established in 1921 Woodard Schools 1921 establishments in England Member schools of the Girls' Schools Association Church of England independent schools in the Diocese of York