Rannoch School was a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

boarding school, located on the south shore of

Loch Rannoch Loch Rannoch () is a freshwater loch in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is over long in a west–east direction with an average width of about , and is deepest at its eastern end, reaching a depth of .Tom Weir. ''The Scottish Lochs''. pp. 69-75 ...

Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...

, Scotland on the Dall Estate, from Kinloch Rannoch. Dall House served as the main school building and a boarding house. It was established by three masters from

Gordonstoun School Gordonstoun School ( ) is an elite co-educational private school for boarding and day pupils in Moray, Scotland. Two generations of British royalty were educated at Gordonstoun, including Prince Philip and his son King Charles III. Musician Davi ...

and opened on 24 September 1959 with 82 boys. The school's ethos was enshrined in its principle of "in pursuit of all round excellence" based on the philosophies of

Kurt Hahn Kurt Matthias Robert Martin Hahn (5 June 1886 – 14 December 1974) was a German educator. He was decisive in founding Stiftung Louisenlund, Schule Schloss Salem, Gordonstoun, Outward Bound, the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, and the first of the U ...

. Rannoch's location in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

glens lent itself well to

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...

pursuits, which became a large part of the school's activities.

Dall House

Dall House was the main school building. It housed two of the boys’ boarding houses, the dining hall, kitchens, masters common room and headmasters office, and in later years the girls boarding house. Dall House - geograph

The estate dates back to 1347. Dall House was built in 1855 as a principal seat of the Clan Robertson, which it remained until the early last century. In 1860 it was sold to Thomas Frederick Charles Vernon Wentworth of Yorkshire. It passed to his son Captain Bruce Vernon-Wentworth, who used to visit during the

autumn Autumn, also known as fall (especially in US & Canada), is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southern Hemisphe ...

shooting season. He took his staff from his main residence at Wentworth Castle in Yorkshire during the season and after the end of World War II lived there full-time until his death in 1951. He is buried at a private grave site by the

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ionizing radiation (such as sunburn, caused by ultraviolet radiation). Most burns are due to heat from hot fluids (called scalding), soli ...

adjacent to the house. The building is a romantically styled ''

Scots Baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival which Revivalism (architecture), revived the forms and ornaments of historical Architecture of Scotland in the Middle Ages, ...

'' mansion house designed by architects Thomas Mackenzie and James Matthews. Prior to being purchased by the school, it was used as offices by the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...

Closure in 2002

In 2002, Rannoch School closed permanently, having been threatened with closure the previous year but lasting another 12 months through financial donations and publicity. Although the demand for independent schooling in Scotland is on the increase, recent years have shown a decline in the number of parents willing to send their children to boarding school. The remoteness of Rannoch and lack of public transport meant that opportunities for day pupils were very limited, being from the nearest village and an hour's drive from the nearest city (

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Old Rannochians

Rannoch produced a number of distinguished alumni known as "Old Rannochians", including: * David Brudenell-Bruce, 9th Marquess of Ailesbury * Graeme Lamb, British General * Patrick Singleton, Bermudian

luge A luge () is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds Supine position, supine (face-up) and feet-first. A luger begins seated, propelling themselves initially from handles on either side of the start ramp, then steers by using the Ca ...

r * Tom Smith, 1971-2022 International Rugby Player: Scotland (61 caps) and British & Irish Lions (6 caps over 2 tours)

References

{{authority control Defunct private schools in Scotland Defunct boarding schools in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1959 1959 establishments in Scotland Educational institutions disestablished in 2002 2002 disestablishments in Scotland Defunct schools in Perth and Kinross

Dall House

Closure in 2002

Old Rannochians

See also

References