Maidwell Hall is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building in

Maidwell Maidwell is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire in England. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish had 325 inhabitants, including Draughton, and this increased to 429 at the 2011 census. The villages name means 'Maidens' s ...

West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, and was created in 2021. It contains the county town of Northampton, as wel ...

, England. The mostly 18th-century house was extensively damaged in a fire and remodelled in 1902. It is now Maidwell Hall School, a coeducational preparatory school for boarding and day pupils aged 4–13 which since 2022 has been an affiliate of

Uppingham School Uppingham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils 13–18) in Uppingham, Rutland, England, founded in 1584 by Robert Johnson, the Archdeacon of Leicester, who also established Oakham School. ...

. The school is to close at the end of the 2024–25 academic year.

House

Maidwell Hall dates to 1637. was extensively remodelled in the 18th century and again in 1885 by

John Alfred Gotch John Alfred Gotch (28 September 1852, Kettering, Northamptonshire – 17 January 1942, Kettering, Northamptonshire) was a noted English architect and architectural historian. His brother was the Pre-Raphaelite painter and illustrator Thomas Coo ...

. A fire in 1895 largely destroyed the interior and is commemorated by stained-glass windows donated to St Mary's Church by the lord of the manor, Sir Reginald Loder. The interior was rebuilt in 1902.Nikolaus Pevsner, ''Northamptonshire'', The Buildings of England, 2nd ed. rev. Bridget Cherry, 1973, repr. New Haven / London: Yale University, 2002,
p. 302
It was remodelled to house the school in about 1930 and extended in the 20th century.Maidwell Hall School: Official List Entry
Historic England, retrieved 23 April 2024. It became a Grade II listed building on 18 July 1985. The house is on an H-plan, with square corner towers. It has two storeys and an attic with

dormer window A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable spac ...

s; the central two-storey porch with balcony and the shaped gable behind it survive from the 17th-century house, as does one wing.

School

Maidwell Hall School was founded as a boys' preparatory school in 1911. It moved to Maidwell Hall in 1933 and became co-educational in 2010. Oliver E.P. Wyatt (1898–1973), the long-time headmaster, served as chair of the Incorporated Association of Preparatory Schools in 1944 and 1948, contributed evidence to the Fleming Report on public school and general education prepared by David Fleming in 1944, and co-authored a book on preparatory schools published in 1951. He was also a prominent horticulturalist. In 1963 he was succeeded as headmaster by John Porch (d. 2022), who retired in 1978.Charles Spencer, ''A Very Private School: A Memoir'', New York / London: Gallery, 2024
ch. 4
Anthony Rendall became headmaster in 2022. Memoirs published in the 21st century by two former boarders have described harsh

corporal punishment A corporal punishment or a physical punishment is a punishment which is intended to cause physical pain to a person. When it is inflicted on Minor (law), minors, especially in home and school settings, its methods may include spanking or Padd ...

at the school: by

Andrew Motion Sir Andrew Peter Motion (born 26 October 1952) is an English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate from 1999 to 2009. During the period of his laureateship, Motion founded the Poetry Archive, an online resource of poems and a ...

in 2006, about the Wyatt eraTom Fort
"That's quite enough poetic licence, Mr Motion"
''The Guardian'', 24 December 2006 (opinion). and by

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, (born 20 May 1964), styled Viscount Althorp between 1975 and 1992, is a British peerage of the United Kingdom, peer, author, journalist, and broadcaster. He is the younger brother of Diana, Prin ...

in 2024, about the Porch era. Spencer also wrote of having been sexually abused by a female staff member at Maidwell.Charlotte Gallagher and James Gregory
"Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer says he was sexually abused at boarding school"
BBC News, 10 March 2024. In response to Spencer's book, the school issued a statement of apology for "practices which were, sadly, sometimes believed to be normal and acceptable at that time" and noting that wideranging changes made to life at the school had as their primary purpose "the safeguarding of children and promotion of their welfare."Isaac Zamet
"Earl Spencer reveals sickening details of school-time abuse in memoir"
''Tatler'', 11 March 2024. The spokesman also said that the school had reported the allegations to the local authority for investigation.

Northamptonshire Police Northamptonshire Police (colloquially known as Northants Police) is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Northamptonshire in the East Midlands of England, in the United Kingdom. The Northamptonshire police area i ...

announced in June 2024 that they had begun an investigation, with one person being arrested and released on conditional bail. In 2022, the school merged with

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

.Will Jefford
"Primary schools merge in bid to 'strengthen' future for pupils"
''Northants Live'', 9 February 2022. In January 2025, Uppingham School announced that Maidwell Hall would close at the end of the academic year after operating at a financial loss for many years, partly due to falling numbers of boarding students as well as the 2024 budget's inclusion of

VAT A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

on private school fees and the discontinuation of business

rates Rate or rates may refer to: Finance * Rate (company), an American residential mortgage company formerly known as Guaranteed Rate * Rates (tax), a type of taxation system in the United Kingdom used to fund local government * Exchange rate, rate ...

relief.

Notable students

* Sir Adam Butler *

Matthew Fort Matthew Fort (born 29 January 1947) is a British food writer and critic. Matthew Fort is the son of the Conservative MP Richard Fort, who died when he was 12. His brother is the writer Tom Fort. He attended Eton College, and later Lancaster Un ...

William Sitwell William Ronald Sacheverell Sitwell (born 2 October 1969) is a member of the British Sitwell family. He is an editor, writer and broadcaster, restaurant critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and former editor of '' Waitrose Food''. Early life ...

James Taylor James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Taylor achieved his breakthrough in 1970 with the single "Fi ...

, cricketerTony Neal
"Shrewsbury drinking nights of future cricket star"
''Shropshire Star'', 18 June 2018.

References

External links

Maidwell Hall School
{{coord, 52, 23, 04.7, N, 0, 54, 00.5, W, display=title Grade II listed buildings in Northamptonshire Houses completed in the 17th century Preparatory schools in Northamptonshire Educational institutions established in 1911 1911 establishments in England Educational institutions disestablished in 2025 2025 disestablishments in England