Cranborne Chase 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 Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

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. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for girls, and was located in the English counties of Dorset and (later) Wiltshire, between 1946 and 1990.

History

Cranborne Chase School opened in 1946 at

Crichel House Crichel House is a Grade I listed Classical Revival country house near the village of Moor Crichel in Dorset, England. The house has an entrance designed by Thomas Hopper (architect), Thomas Hopper and interiors by James Wyatt. It is surrounded ...

in the village of

Moor Crichel Moor Crichel () is a village and former Civil parishes in England, civil parish, now in the parish of Crichel, in Dorset, England situated on Cranborne Chase five miles east of Blandford Forum. The civil parish includes the hamlet (place), hamle ...

in Dorset, England. In 1961, the school moved to

New Wardour Castle New Wardour Castle is a Grade I listed English country house at Wardour, near Tisbury in Wiltshire, built for the Arundell family. The house is of Palladian style, designed by the architect James Paine, with additions by Giacomo Quarenghi, w ...

near Tisbury in Wiltshire, and extensively renovated the building, which had fallen into a severe state of disrepair. In 1985 there were 130 girls, aged between 11 and 18 years, and 26 teachers at the school. The school closed in July 1990.

Wardour facilities

(not to be confused with

Wardour Castle Wardour Castle or Old Wardour Castle is a ruined 14th-century castle at Wardour, on the boundaries of the civil parishes of Tisbury and Donhead St Andrew in the English county of Wiltshire, about west of Salisbury. The castle was built in t ...

) there were

dormitories A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

for girls in the 1st to 4th Forms around the top fourth floor of the building, each with beds for between two and six girls. Fifth Formers slept on the

mezzanine A mezzanine (; or in Italian, a ''mezzanino'') is an intermediate floor in a building which is partly open to the double-height ceilinged floor below, or which does not extend over the whole floorspace of the building, a loft with non-sloped ...

floor below this. The Lower Sixth Form had studios for one or two girls in a modern extension on the south-eastern side of the building. Upper Sixth formers had their own individual rooms in the upper East Wing flat or in a separate building known as 'The Hexagon'. Pupils ate in the modern dining hall built on the south-eastern side of the building, next to the

gym A gym, short for gymnasium (: gymnasiums or gymnasia), is an indoor venue for exercise and sports. The word is derived from the ancient Greek term " gymnasion". They are commonly found in athletic and fitness centres, and as activity and learn ...

nasium. This extension had additional modern classrooms for Art and Science. All other classrooms were in the main building, on the ground and first floors. A student assembly was held most mornings around the

rotunda A rotunda () is any roofed building with a circular ground plan, and sometimes covered by a dome. It may also refer to a round room within a building (an example being the one below the dome of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.). ...

staircase, with each year standing in groups between the columns. This usually included a short religious ceremony and singing accompaniment on the rotunda organ. Outside, there was an open-air swimming pool in the

walled garden A walled garden is a garden enclosed by high walls, especially when this is done for horticultural rather than security purposes, although originally all gardens may have been enclosed for protection from animal or human intruders. In temperate c ...

, six

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s and a running track, with space for field sports on the front lawn. There was also an enclosure for outdoor pets, which students were encouraged to keep. In addition to the Hexagon building, there were three houses for staff and their families, built in the 1970s. Other staff lived in flats within the main building or commuted from the surrounding area.

Notable former pupils

Josceline Dimbleby Josceline Rose Dimbleby (née Gaskell; born 1943) is a British cookery writer. She has written seventeen cookery books, and was cookery correspondent of ''The Sunday Telegraph'' for 15 years. Early life and education Dimbleby was born in 1943. S ...

, cookery writer * Mandy Ford, Anglican priest * Princess

Tatiana von Fürstenberg Princess Tatiana Desirée von Fürstenberg (''Tatiana Desirée Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg''; born February 16, 1971) is an American art curator, singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and filmmaker. Early life and family Von Fürstenberg ...

,Back to School for Tatiana von Furstenberg and Francesca Gregorini
Author: Daniel D'Addario. Publisher: ''

The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...

''. Published: 6 September 2011. Retrieved: 3 March 2014. singer, actress and socialite *

Amaryllis Garnett Amaryllis Virginia Garnett (17 October 1943 – 6 May 1973) was an English actress and diarist. Early life and family Born in St Pancras, London, Garnett was the eldest of the four daughters of David and Angelica Garnett. Her father was a write ...

, actress *

Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater of Butterstone Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater of Butterstone (15 April 1943 – 15 December 2022) was a British Liberal Democrat politician and member of the House of Lords. Her career indicated her interests in children's welfare, education and speci ...

(1943–2022), a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords *

Roxanna Panufnik Roxanna Panufnik (born 24 April 1968) is a British composer of Polish descent. She is the daughter of the Polish composer and conductor Sir Andrzej Panufnik and his second wife Camilla, née Jessel. Panufnik was born in London. She attended Be ...

, composer *

Jane Ridley The Honourable Jane Ridley FRSL (born 15 May 1953) is an English historian, biographer, author and broadcaster, and Professor of Modern History at the University of Buckingham. Ridley won the Duff Cooper Prize in 2002 for ''The Architect and h ...

, author, biographer, commentator and Professor of Modern History at the

University of Buckingham The University of Buckingham (UB) is a non-profit private university#United Kingdom, private university in Buckingham, England, and the oldest of the country's six private universities. It was founded as the University College at Buckingham (U ...

Joanna Waley-Cohen Eleanor Joanna Waley-Cohen (born 10 June 1952) is an English academic who is Provost for New York University Shanghai and Silver Professor of History at New York University, where she has taught Chinese history since 1992. As Provost, she serves ...

, professor of history at New York University *

Harriet Walter Dame Harriet Mary Walter is an English actress. She has received an Olivier Award and nominations for a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, Walter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British E ...

, actress *

Iona Brown Iona Brown, OBE, (7 January 19415 June 2004) was a British violinist and conductor. Early life and education Elizabeth Iona Brown was born in Salisbury and was educated at Cranborne Chase School, Dorset. Her parents, Antony and Fiona, were bo ...

, conductor and violinist *

Madeleine Redfern Madeleine Redfern (born 1967) is a Canadian Inuk politician, who was elected mayor of Iqaluit, Nunavut in a by-election on 13 December 2010. She was the city's mayor until 2019. She was born in Iqaluit (then called Frobisher Bay, Northwest Ter ...

, mayor of the City of Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada *

Melanie McFadyean Melanie McFadyean (24 November 1950 – 16 March 2023) was a British journalist and lecturer. She wrote for a wide range of papers, including ''The Guardian'', ''The Observer'', ''The Sunday Times'' and ''The Independent'', particularly about a ...

(1950–2023), journalist and lecturer

Aftermath

Betty Galton, the founding headmistress of Cranborne Chase School, died in December 2005. The building, which is now a private residence, is featured as the ballet school in the 2000 film ''Billy Elliott''. The 2009 film ''Tanner Hall'', written and co-directed by alumna Tatiana von Furstenberg, was loosely based on her experiences as a pupil there.

References

External links

Cranbourne Chase School
– Wiltshire Community History {{authority control Boarding schools in Dorset Boarding schools in Wiltshire Defunct schools in Dorset Defunct schools in Wiltshire Girls' schools in Dorset Girls' schools in Wiltshire Educational institutions established in 1946 Educational institutions disestablished in 1990 1990 disestablishments in England Defunct boarding schools in England 1946 establishments in England