St Mary's School was 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 * Independe ...

day and boarding girls' school located in Wantage,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primaril ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. In 2007 it merged with Heathfield School to become Heathfield St Mary's School (later reverted to Heathfield) and the Wantage site was closed. It was affiliated with the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

and had close ties with its founding order, the

Community of St Mary the Virgin The Community of St Mary the Virgin (CSMV) is an Anglican religious order based at Wantage in Oxfordshire, England. It was founded in 1848 by the vicar of Wantage, the Reverend William John Butler and is one of the oldest surviving religious co ...

. It was predominantly a

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 exte ...

History

The Reverend William John Butler became Vicar of Wantage on 1 January 1847. His main aims were, first, to revive the religious life in England and second, to improve education. He hoped to achieve these aims by setting up an order of teaching sisters, but he faced many disappointments and spent 25 years trying to improve various day schools in the parish before St Mary's School was founded in 1873. Together with its sister school, the School of St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon, St Mary's was run by the sisters of the

and was based in the Queen Anne house on Newbury Street. Sister Ellen was the first Sister-in-Charge and Sister Juliana succeeded her in 1887. Sister Juliana had studied at Cambridge and set a high standard for the girls, entering them for the Oxford and Cambridge local examinations. Sister Annie Louisa joined the school in 1898 and started a guide movement called Scout Patrols in 1899 before

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts may refer to: * Boy Scout, a participant in the Boy Scout Movement. * Scouting, also known as the Boy Scout Movement. * An organisation in the Scouting Movement, although many of these organizations also have female members. There are t ...

had even begun. She succeeded Sister Juliana as Headmistress in 1903. Sister Annie Louisa was responsible for the chief structural improvements at St Mary's including a science wing and the conversion of an old barn into a gymnasium. By the time Sister Annie Louisa left in 1919, St Mary's was recognised as a “public school with an unusually high standard of scholarship”. In 2005 the buildings were purchased for around £15m by the property developer Anton Bilton and his company, Raven Mount. The transaction was said to be necessary to increase the size of the school and modernise facilities. However, in 2006 it was announced that the school would be merging with the Heathfield School in Ascot, to form a new school, Heathfield St Mary's and the Wantage site was closed at the end of the summer term 2007.

Notable alumnae

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* Harriet Bridgeman, Viscountess Bridgeman, founder of

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* Diana Churchill, actress * Susannah Constantine, fashion advisor and author * Margaret Cooper (1918-2016), cryptographer *

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* Hon. Victoria Glendinning, novelist and broadcaster *

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, three-day eventer *

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* Hon. Daphne Guinness *

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* Dame

Ruth Railton Dame Ruth Railton (14 December 1915 – 23 February 2001) was a British music director and conductor. After St. Mary's School, Wantage, and the Royal Academy of Music, she became director of music or choral work for several schools includi ...

, music director and conductor *

Phyllis Hartnoll Phyllis Hartnoll (22 September 1906, in Egypt – 8 January 1997, in Lyme Regis) was a British poet, author and editor. Hartnoll was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and read English at St Hugh's College, Oxford,Jack Readin"Obituary: Phy ...

, poet * Kara-Louise Horne, ''Big Brother'' 8 contestant *

Davina Ingrams, 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth Davina Marcia Herbert Ingrams, 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth (10 July 1938 – 24 February 2008) was a crossbench member of the House of Lords, continuing to sit after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999 as an elected peer. Biography ...

* Judith Keppel, quiz panellist, first million-pound winner of

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Candida Lycett Green Candida Rose Lycett Green (née Betjeman; 22 September 194219 August 2014) was a British author who wrote sixteen books including ''English Cottages'', ''Goodbye London'', ''The Perfect English House'', ''Over the Hills and Far Away'' and ''The ...

, writer * Tessa Montgomery, Viscountess Montgomery of Alamein *

Emma Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne Emma Harriet Nicholson, Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne (born 16 October 1941) is a British politician, who has been a life peer since 1997. She was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Torridge and West Devon in 1987, befor ...

, politicianAbout EmmaEmma Nicholson
UK. *

Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill Lady Henrietta Mary Spencer-Churchill (born 7 October 1958) is an English interior decorator and founder of Woodstock Designs. Her name has been more than once included in a list of 100 Leading Interior Designers by '' House & Garden'' magazine. S ...

, interior designer *

Lady Helen Taylor Lady Helen Marina Lucy Taylor (''née'' Windsor; born 28 April 1964) is a relative of the British royal family. She is the daughter of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, and Katharine, Duchess of Kent, and a great-granddaughter of George V. Early l ...

* Susan Travers * Dame Jane Whiteley *

Judith Wilcox, Baroness Wilcox Judith Ann Wilcox, Baroness Wilcox (née Freeman; born 31 October 1939) is a businesswoman and a life peer. She was awarded her peerage in 1996 as one of the first Working Peers for her services to Consumer Services. She sat in the House of L ...

References

External links

School Website
(via web.archive.org) *
The Merge Forum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's School, Wantage Educational institutions established in 1873 Educational institutions disestablished in 2007 Girls' schools in Oxfordshire Defunct schools in Oxfordshire 1873 establishments in England 2007 disestablishments in England Defunct Church of England schools Wantage People educated at St Mary’s School, Wantage