Stoke College in

Stoke-by-Clare Stoke-by-Clare is a small village and civil parish in Suffolk located in the valley of the River Stour, about two miles west of Clare. In 1124 Richard de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford, moved the Benedictine Priory that had been established at h ...

, near

Haverhill, Suffolk Haverhill ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in the county of Suffolk, England, next to the borders of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It lies about south east of Cambridge, south west of Bury St Edmunds, and north west of Braintree and Colche ...

, England, is a

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...

day school A day school — as opposed to a boarding school — is an educational institution where children and adolescents are given instructions during the day, after which the students return to their homes. A day school has full-day programs when compar ...

for children aged 11 to 18, with boarding for children aged 11 to 18. It is built on the site of a major medieval monastic college.

History of the site

The College traces its name back to 1415, when a college for priests was founded on the site. The medieval College had been founded on the earlier site of a Benedictine priory, originally located in Clare Castle, but moved to

in 1124. Under the patronage of the powerful de Clare family, it was one of the wealthiest monastic houses in Norman England, until a disastrous fire in the 1390s. The college annexed

Chipley Priory Chipley Priory was a small Augustine religious house, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, located about north-west of the village of Poslingford in the English county of Suffolk.Page.W (1975) 'Houses of Austin canons: Priory of Chipley', ''A Histo ...

in about 1468.Page.W (1975) 'Houses of Austin canons: Priory of Chipley', ''A History of the County of Suffolk: Volume 2'', p. 99
available online
. Retrieved 2011-05-03. In 1534 Dr Walter Haddon, writing in a letter from Cambridge, says of the College "how that place seemed in a manner to be made on purpose for scholars, both to learn themselves, and to teach others: and that its situation was such that above all others it is best suited for honest and ingenious pleasures." The last Dean was

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...

, future Archbishop of Canterbury under Elizabeth I, and a founder of the Church of England. The buildings had been abandoned after the Dissolution of the monasteries in the 1540s; the site was bought by the Elwes family around 1660, who created the surviving main house and stables. The Elweses did not always keep the premises in fine style – one member of the family, John Elwes was so mean that he served as Dickens's model for

Ebenezer Scrooge Ebenezer Scrooge () is the protagonist of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella ''A Christmas Carol''. At the beginning of the novella, Scrooge is a cold-hearted miser who despises Christmas. The tale of his redemption by three spirits (the Ghost of ...

in ''A Christmas Carol''. In 1897 the estate was bought by

Henry Loch, 1st Baron Loch Henry Brougham Loch, 1st Baron Loch, (23 May 1827 – 20 June 1900) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Military service Henry Loch was the son of James Loch, Member of Parliament, of Drylaw, Midlothian. He entered the Royal Navy ...

, a Victorian army officer and colonial administrator. He brought in his wife's nephew, the noted architect

Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memori ...

, to add a wing in his distinctive

Arts and Crafts A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

style, as well as gardens in the style of his friend and co-designer

Gertrude Jekyll Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...

. The Lochs struggled to keep up the estate during and after World War Two; in 1950 they abandoned the house. In 1954 it became a small independent school, reviving the historic name "Stoke College" a few years later. It now serves around 200 pupils. In 1961 the house became a Grade II*

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 ...

Recent history

'Grenville' was the name chosen for the small school which was founded in Clare a little over 50 years ago. It existed in the building known as 'The Norfolks' for a while before being acquired by Miss Elliot and Miss McLoad, who had previously been senior lecturers, training teachers at Bingley College in Yorkshire, in 1951. They became joint Principals. This school was so successful that it quickly grew in size and new premises had to be found. The house recently vacated by the Loch family proved ideal and the school moved in 1954. In 1969, Miss Elliot retired and Martin Gedney became the first Headmaster of Stoke College. This was a time of great change and in 1973 it was decided that the name of the school should be changed to Stoke College.

Notable alumni

Matt Cardle Matthew Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English pop singer. He was born in Southampton and grew up in Halstead, Essex. Cardle has been involved in music since his early teens and has been a member of two different bands; Darwyn and S ...

, singer and songwriter; winner of "

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

" in 2010

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1951 Independent schools in Suffolk Boarding schools in Suffolk Preparatory schools in Suffolk Grade II* listed buildings in Suffolk Grade II* listed educational buildings Works of Edwin Lutyens in England 1951 establishments in England