Sherfield School is a

coeducational 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 ...

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 & boarding school, located in Sherfield Manor by Sherfield on Loddon in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

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 ...

. and set in 76 acres of parkland. It is currently a school of over 400 pupils founded in 2004 by GEMS Education and is operationally managed by the Bellevue Education Group Ltd. Until 2003 the site was the location of the North Foreland Lodge girls boarding school, founded in 1909;''Journal of Education'', vol. 31 (Oxford University Press, 1909), p. 176 and settled at Sherfield Manor in 1947. 3B9A1828 da

Site history

The Sherfield Manor House site has history back to the early 12th century, when it was part of the manor of Odiham, but at some time before 1167 it was granted by Henry II to his Marshall,

William FitzAldelm William FitzAldelm, FitzAdelm, FitzAldhelm, or FitzAudelin was a Anglo-Norman nobleman from Suffolk or North Yorkshire. He was the son of Adelm de Burgate, and an important courtier who took part in the Norman invasion of Ireland. Courtier In 1165 ...

.''Parishes: Sherfield-upon-Loddon'', A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 4 (1911), pp. 103–108. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56759 Date accessed: 19 September 2012 This created the manor of Sherfield upon Loddon; it is possible that William Fitz Aldelm built the first Manor House. Until the nineteenth century, the manor of Sherfield upon Loddon passed between various noble families, including the Marquises of Winchester and later the Dukes of Wellington.Richard Garfield, ''Noble and rich history of Sherfield Manor'', Basingstoke Gazette (26 March 2009). URL: http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/memories/4235680.Noble_and_rich_history_of_Sherfield_Manor/ Date accessed: 19 September 2012 In the 16th century, a country house known as Archer Lodge was built on the site of the Sherfield manor house and was later the residence of Paynton Pigott Stainsby Conant, a rich landowner. In 1870 this house was demolished by John Bramston Stane, who built a new house in a Victorian style, called Buckfield, in the middle of a wood of the same name. In 1880 the house was renamed as Sherfield Manor and by 1897 had been further extended. The Liddell family acquired the manor house in 1908 and were the last owners to hold manorial courts, responsible for minor offences, local administration, and the regulation and customs of the Sherfield upon Loddon manor. Their son,

John Aidan Liddell John Aidan Liddell, (3 August 1888 – 31 August 1915) was a British military pilot and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Early li ...

, a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps, won both the Military Cross and the Victoria Cross for gallantry during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and died from the wounds he had suffered in winning the VC.

School history

In 1947 (following its use as a military hospital in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

) the Sherfield Manor site was purchased and operated by North Foreland Lodge, a girls' boarding school previously based in North Foreland, Kent. The buildings on the site were then extended over the years to a size in excess of with the site also including nine residential units. The North Foreland Lodge girls' boarding school used this site as a school from 1947 until 2003. In 2001-2002

Gordonstoun School Gordonstoun School is a co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. It is named after the estate owned by Sir Robert Gordon in the 17th century; the school now uses this estate as its campus. It is located ...

of Scotland sought to acquire the school with the support of some of the North Foreland Lodge governors,Wendy Wallace, 'Independents' Day' in The Times (London), issue 68291 dated 22 January 2005, pp. 30–31 and the success of this bid was announced in March 2002, when it was revealed that a new prep school was to be built within the school grounds and that North Foreland would continue as a girls-only senior school. However, having paid only £1 million for the school, in 2003 Gordonstoun closed it, soon selling the land and buildings for £6 million. The Gems Education group relaunched the site as Sherfield School in September 2004. Lucy Ward, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', said that "this apparently traditional English independent school represents one face of a thrusting young newcomer causing ripples in the UK's private education market - the Dubai-based Global Education Management Systems", and noted that Gems is known overseas "for offering a distinctive brand of no-frills, low-cost private education".

Headteachers

* James Murphy O'Connor (Headmaster), 2004 - 2009 * Dr. Pat Preedy (Executive Principal), 2004 - 2012 * Richard Jaine (Head Master), 2012 - 2017 Independent Schools Magazine, March 2012. URL: http://www.independentschoolsmagazine.co.uk/resources/March+Web.pdf . Date accessed: 24 September 2012 * Nick Fisher (Head Master), 2017 - 2018 * Christopher James-Roll, (Acting Head Master) 2018 * Nick Brain, (Headmaster) 2018 -

References

External links

Sherfield School home pageGEMS EducationNational Curriculum online official websiteDepartment for Education and Skills
''(

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 ...

)''
Independent Schools Association
{{authority control Educational institutions established in 2004 Independent schools in Hampshire GEMS schools 2004 establishments in England