Stonar School, founded in 1895, is a non-denominational UK
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, at Cottles Park, near
Atworth
Atworth is a village and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. The village is on the A365 road between Melksham and Box, about northwest of Melksham and northeast of Bradford on Avon. The hamlet of Purlpit lies east of Atworth village, and i ...
,
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 ...
, south-west England. The school occupies 80 acres of parkland and gardens in a location about 8 miles from
Bath. There are about 330 pupils of both sexes, girls being in the majority. An
ISI inspection in 2018 found the school "excellent".
History
The school was established in 1895 as a girls' school at Stour House,
Sandwich, Kent
Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval buildings, including sev ...
, and adopted the Stonar name when it moved to the larger Stonar House, also in Sandwich.
The school was
evacuated to Cottles House when the Sandwich premises were requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1939.
The school was acquired in 2013
by Globeducate, a subsidiary of American
private equity firm
A private equity firm is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of startup or operating companies through a variety of loosely affiliated investment strategies including leve ...
Providence Equity
Providence Equity Partners L.L.C. is a specialist private equity firm, private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, education, technology investments across North America and Europe. The firm specializes in growth-oriented pri ...
, which operates over 50 schools in several countries. Boys began to be accepted by the school in 2016 and it became fully coeducational.
Cottles House
The
Grade II-listed Cottles House was designed by
Thomas Jelly and
John Palmer John Palmer may refer to:
People
Politicians
* John Palmer (fl. 1377–1394), English politician
* Sir John Palmer, 5th Baronet (1735–1817), British politician
* John Palmer (1785–1840), U.S. congressman from New York
* John Palmer (1842–19 ...
of
Bath as a
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
for Robert Hale, and built in 1775–78 on the site of an earlier house belonging to the Hale family.
The name comes from the Cotel family who held the manor (also known as Little Atworth) in the 13th century.
The house was extended c.1832 by
H.E. Goodridge, who also designed St Michael's church at Atworth.
The result is described by
Historic England
Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked wit ...
as "rambling L-plan" and by
Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist
* Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo
* David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...
as "early 19th-century
Gothick
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
".
The room which is now the school library has a late 16th-century stone chimney piece with
caryatid
A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...
s, which may have come from the earlier house;
Pevsner states it is splendid but "much too big for the house".
Elsewhere, joinery including doors and window shutters is from the early 19th century, and there are
Adam-style fireplaces on the first floor.
Equestrian education
Stonar offers an
equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
education alongside the academic curriculum. Facilities include an indoor school, an 80 x 40m surfaced arena, four cross-country courses and stabling for up to 65 horses and ponies. Guest trainers include
Mary King.
Notable former pupils
*
Pamela Kirkham, 16th Baroness Berners
Pamela Vivien Kirkham, 16th Baroness Berners ( Williams; 30 September 1929 – 23 January 2023) was a British hereditary peer who worked as a nurse in the National Health Service. She was a member of the House of Lords from 1995 to 1999.
Family ...
(born 1929), hereditary peeress and
former Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
member of the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
(1995-1999).
*
Thorhilda Abbott-Watt
Thorhilda Mary Vivia "Thorda" Abbott-Watt (born 11 February 1955) is an English diplomat who currently serves as British High Commissioner to Tonga.
Career
Abbott-Watt joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) in 1974 and has worked bo ...
(born 1955), diplomat.
*
Laura Ford (born 1961), sculptor.
*
The Hon Charlotte Long (1965–1984), actress.
*
Romola Garai
Romola Sadie Garai (; born 6 August 1982) is a British actress and film director. She appeared in ''Amazing Grace'', ''Atonement'', and ''Glorious 39'', and in the BBC series '' Emma'', '' The Hour'' and ''The Crimson Petal and the White''. In ...
(born 1982), actress.
*
Georgia Hardinge
Georgia Victoria Hardinge (born 4 February 1984) is an English fashion designer based in London.
Biography
The_Honourable#United_Kingdom, The Honourable Georgia Victoria Hardinge was born in London, daughter of List of Old Harrovians, Old Harr ...
(born 1984), fashion designer.
*
Holly Bodimeade
Holly Bodimeade (born July 26, 1995) is an English actress.
Early life
Born in Chichester, West Sussex, Bodimeade was a pupil at Stonar School in Wiltshire.
Career
Bodimeade starred in her first lead role as Maddy in the BAFTA-nominated BBC ...
(born 1997), actress.
See also
*
List of schools in Wiltshire
This is a List of schools in Wiltshire, England.
State-funded schools Primary schools
* Alderbury & West Grimstead Church of England, CE Primary School, Alderbury
* All Cannings CE Primary School, All Cannings
* Aloeric Primary School, Mel ...
References
External links
*
Stonar SchoolInspection reports at
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...
Stonar School, WiltshireGeneral information and fees at isbischools
{{Authority control
Educational institutions established in 1895
Private schools in Wiltshire
Boarding schools in Wiltshire
Country houses in Wiltshire
*
1895 establishments in England