Brockhurst and Marlston House School is a British independent and

boarding Boarding may refer to: *Boarding, used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals as in a: ** Boarding house **Boarding school *Boarding (horses) (also known as a livery yard, livery stable, or boarding stable), is a stable where ho ...

preparatory school. It occupies Marlston House, a

grade II* listed 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 ...

Elizabethan style Elizabethan architecture refers to buildings of a certain style constructed during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England and Ireland from 1558–1603. Historically, the era sits between the long era of the dominant architectural style o ...

house situated in the hamlet of

Marlston Marlston is a village in the English ceremonial county of Berkshire. For administrative purposes, it lies within the civil parish of Bucklebury and the unitary authority of West Berkshire. Etymology The place-name Marlston is first attested ...

and the civil parish of

Bucklebury Bucklebury is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England, about north-east of Newbury and north of the A4 road. The parish has a population of 2,116, but the village is much smaller. Bucklebury Common, with an area of over , is one ...

in the English county of

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

The house

The house lies on a historic site, and the seat of a

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

, being occupied by a house from the Elizabethan era. At one point the manor was held by Richard Wightwick, who co-founded Pembroke College of the University of Oxford. By 1855 the house was occupied by Henry Mill Bunbury, who had the house remodelled by Mr. W. Butterfield. The current Marlston House was built between 1895 and 1899 by

Edward Burgess Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Sax ...

in the

to replace that remodelled house. It was built for George Palmer, who was one of the founders of the

Huntley & Palmers Huntley & Palmers is a British company of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. Formed by Joseph Huntley in 1822, the company became one of the world's first global brands (chiefly led by George Palmer who joined in 1841) and r ...

biscuit factory, mayor of the nearby town of Reading, and Member of Parliament for Reading. After George Palmer died in 1897, the house was occupied by his son, George William Palmer, who was also mayor of, and Member of Parliament for, Reading. The house has been used as a school since 1945. It was listed as a grade II* listed building in 1983.

The school

The school comprises twin parts, known as Brockhurst (boys) and Marlston House (girls). In 2018 they had 311 pupils from the ages three to thirteen. The various facilities provided by the school include 21 acres of games fields, a sports hall, a swimming pool, tennis courts, arts and design studios, Information and communications technology suite and equestrian school. In addition, there is a château in

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

, south-west France, where the pupils practise French. Brockhurst was founded in 1884 as a boys’ boarding prep school at

Church Stretton Church Stretton is a market town in Shropshire, England, south of Shrewsbury and north of Ludlow. The population in 2011 was 4,671.

in Shropshire. In 1942 it moved to Broughton Hall near Eccleshall in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. In 1945 it moved again, to its current home, becoming co-educational in 1995. In 2009, ''Country Life'' magazine included Brockhurst and Marlston House School among the best countryside preparatory schools of Great Britain. In 2018 the School was rated 'Excellent' in all categories by the Independent Schools Inspectorate. The school's pupils, while the school was at Church Stretton, included politician

Julian Critchley Sir Julian Michael Gordon Critchley (8 December 1930 – 9 September 2000) was a British journalist, author and Conservative Party politician. He was the member of parliament for Rochester and Chatham from 1959 to 1964 and Aldershot from 1970 t ...

. Another former pupil, Arthur Leyland Harrison, played rugby union for England in the

1914 Five Nations Championship The 1914 Five Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship. Including the previous Home Nations Championships, this was the thirty-secon ...

and was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the Zeebrugge Raid of 1918. The politician Michael Heseltine was a pupil at the school when it was at

Broughton Hall, Staffordshire Broughton Hall near Eccleshall, Staffordshire, is a privately owned 16th-century Elizabethan-style manor house. It is a Grade I listed building. The manor of Broughton was owned by the eponymous Broughton family from the 13th century. The pres ...

Notable former pupils

* Arthur Leyland Harrison * Michael Heseltine

References

External links

Brockhurst and Marlston House School Official Site
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 1884 Grade II* listed buildings in Berkshire Independent schools in West Berkshire District Preparatory schools in Berkshire 1884 establishments in England Bucklebury