Stonar School, founded in 1895, is a non-denominational

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 ...

day and boarding school, at Cottles Park, near Atworth,

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, south-west England. The school occupies 80 acres of parkland and gardens in a location about 8 miles from

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. There are about 420 pupils from 2 to 18 years old, with approximately 100 in the prep school section and 320 in the secondary section.

History

The school was established in 1895 as a girls' school at Stour House,

Sandwich, Kent Sandwich is a town and civil parish in the Dover District of Kent, south-east England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour and has a population of 4,985. Sandwich was one of the Cinque Ports and still has many original medieval build ...

, and adopted the Stonar name when it moved to the larger Stonar House, also in Sandwich. The school was evacuated to Cottles House when the Sandwich premises were requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence in 1939. The school was acquired in 2013 by Globeducate, a subsidiary of American

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

Providence Equity, which operates over 50 schools in several countries. Boys began to be accepted by the school in 2016 and it became fully coeducational.

Cottles House

The

Grade II 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, Hi ...

-listed Cottles House was designed by Thomas Jelly and John Palmer of

as a

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

for Robert Hale, and built in 1775–78 on the site of an earlier house belonging to the Hale family. The name comes from the Cotel family who held the manor (also known as Little Atworth) in the 13th century. The house was extended c.1832 by H.E. Goodridge, who also designed St Michael's church at Atworth. The result is described by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

as "rambling L-plan" and by Pevsner as "early 19th-century Gothick". The room which is now the school library has a late 16th-century stone chimney piece with

caryatid A caryatid ( ; ; ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient t ...

s, which may have come from the earlier house; Pevsner states it is splendid but "much too big for the house". Elsewhere, joinery including doors and window shutters is from the early 19th century, and there are Adam-style fireplaces on the first floor.

Equestrian education

Stonar offers an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

education alongside the academic curriculum. Facilities include an indoor school, an 80 x 40m surfaced arena, four cross-country courses and stabling for up to 65 horses and ponies. Guest trainers include Mary King.

Notable former pupils

* Pamela Kirkham, 16th Baroness Berners (born 1929), hereditary peeress and former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

(1995-1999). * Thorhilda Abbott-Watt (born 1955), diplomat. * Laura Ford (born 1961), sculptor. * The Hon Charlotte Long (1965–1984), actress. *

Romola Garai Romola Sadie Garai ( ; born 6 August 1982) is a Hong Kong-born British actress and film director. Known for her extensive work on stage and screen, she often acts in period films. Her early film roles include '' Nicholas Nickleby'' (2002), '' ...

(born 1982), actress. * Georgia Hardinge (born 1984), fashion designer. * Holly Bodimeade (born 1997), actress.

References

External links

*
Stonar School
Inspection reports at

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a non-ministerial department of His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament. Ofsted's role is to make sure that organisations providing education, training ...