Farleigh School is a Catholic preparatory day and boarding school in

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the English county of Hampshire. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the Test, and is situated alongside the major A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, west of the town of Basi ...

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 b ...

. Situated in of parkland in the

Test Valley Test Valley is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England, named after the valley of the River Test. Its council is based in Andover. The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by a merger of the boroughs of Andover and Romsey, a ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, it educates around 430 children. The current school comprises a pre-prep department (ages 3–6) and the main prep school (ages 6–13).

History

Farleigh was founded as a boys' boarding school in 1953 at Farleigh House, near Basingstoke,

, the seat of the

earls of Portsmouth Earl of Portsmouth is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1743 for John Wallop, 1st Viscount Lymington, who had previously represented Hampshire in the House of Commons. He had already been created Baron Wallop, of Far ...

, by the late Jocelyn Francis Trappes-Lomax. It started out with 35 boys. Since moving to

Red Rice Red rice is a variety of rice that is colored red by its anthocyanin content. It is usually eaten unpolished or partially polished, and has a red bran layer, rather than the more common pale brown. Red rice has a nutty flavor. It has the highe ...

in 1982, the school has acquired an indoor swimming pool, a new art and DT facility, and a new headmaster. Father Simon Everson, in addition to his duties as headmaster at Farleigh School, also takes responsibility as chaplain at the school. Since 1982 it has been located in a

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

country house previously named Red Rice House, where the future

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

of the United Kingdom (then still

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

) was believed to have secretly – and illegally – married the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Maria Anne Fitzherbert Maria Anne Fitzherbert (''née'' Smythe, previously Weld; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV of the United Kingdom). In 1785, they secretly contracted a marriage that was i ...

in 1785. The legend was disproved in 1905 when Mrs Fitzherbert's papers were made public.US Archive https://archive.org/details/mrsfitzherberta01wilkgoog The house is situated in the

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

, near

Boarding

Boarding is available to both boys and girls aged 7 (Year 3) and above. Around 40% of pupils board either full-time or on weekdays. The younger boarders are housed separate sections of the Junior House. Boarders in Year 7 and above reside in two senior houses (1 for boys and 1 for girls).

Notable alumni

Rupert Allason Rupert William Simon Allason (born 8 November 1951) is a British former Conservative Party politician and professional author. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Torbay in Devon, from 1987 to 1997. He writes books and articles on the sub ...

Raymond Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith Raymond Benedict Bartholomew Michael Asquith, 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (born 24 August 1952), is a British former diplomat and hereditary peer. Styled Viscount Asquith until he succeeded to his father's peerage titles on 16 January 2 ...

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor, director and producer. Everett first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupi ...

* Alexander Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh *

Earl Jellicoe Earl Jellicoe is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created, along with the subsidiary title Viscount Brocas, of Southampton in the County of Southampton, on 29 June 1925 for Admiral of the Fleet John Jellicoe, 1st Viscoun ...

John Home Robertson John David Home Robertson (born 5 December 1948) is a retired Labour politician in Scotland. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwick and East Lothian and East Lothian from 1978 to 2001 and a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for ...

Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford Francis Melfort William Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford DL (born 13 March 1954) is an English politician, educator and landowner, who had a seat in the House of Lords from 1986 until the reform of the House of Lords which took effect in 2000. ...

* Hugh Vyvyan * Tarka L'Herpiniere *

Cressida Bonas Cressida Curzon Bonas (born 18 February 1989) is an English actress and model, known also for her relationship with Prince Harry between 2012 and 2014. Early life and education Bonas was born in Winchester, Hampshire, the only child of 1960s ...

Former staff

The former

cricketer and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

footballer, Bernard Harrison, was for many years a teacher of Mathematics and Sports at the school.

References

External links

School WebsiteProfile
on the

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

website * ISI Inspectio
Reports
Roman Catholic independent schools in the Diocese of Portsmouth Educational institutions established in 1953 Preparatory schools in Hampshire Boarding schools in Hampshire Catholic boarding schools in England 1953 establishments in England Andover, Hampshire {{Hampshire-school-stub