Sherfield School

Sherfield School
"Roots to Grow, Wings to Fly"
Location
Sherfield on Loddon, Hampshire, England
Information
Type	Independent
Established	2004
Executive Principal	Adjunct Professor Pat Preedy
Pupils	500 (approx.)
Website	http://www.sherfieldschool.co.uk/

Sherfield School is a co-educational, Independent primary and secondary school (age 3mths-19) located at old Sherfield Manor in Sherfield on Loddon in the English county of Hampshire. It was founded in 2004 by GEMS Education [1] and caters for around 500 students.

History of the Manor

The Sherfield Manor House site has a long history stretching back to the 12th Century AD and the medieval period. In the early 12th century it was part of the manor of Odiham, but was granted by Henry II to his Marshall, William FitzAdelm sometime prior to 1167 AD. This created the manor of Sherfield Upon Loddon; it is assumed that William Fitz Aldelm built the first manor house subsequently.

For the next several hundred years, the manor of Sherfield Upon Loddon passed between various noble families (including the Marquis of Winchester and later the Duke of Wellington). Archer Lodge was built on the Sherfield Manor house site in the 16th Century and was the residence of one Mr. Paynton Pigott Stainsby Conant - a wealthy landowner. Some 300 years later (in 1870) this was pulled down by a Mr. John Bramston Stane, who erected a new house in the regal Victorian style, called Buckfield, in the middle of a wood of the same name. In 1880 the site was renamed to Sherfield Manor and by 1897 had been further encased and extended.

The Liddell family became holders of the manor house in 1908. They were the last family in the manor house to host courts responsible for jurisdiction over minor offences, local administration and the regulation and customs of the Sherfield Upon Loddon manor. Their son, Aidan Liddell won both the Military Cross and the Victoria Cross for bravery. The latter was won as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps, but its occasion was also to lead to Captain Liddell's death from the injuries he suffered.

History of the Manor House as a School

In 1947 (following its use as a military hospital in the 2nd World War) the site was purchased and operated by North Foreland Lodge, a girls boarding school. The buildings on the site were then extended over the years to a size in excess of 125,000 sq ft (11,600 m²) 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 2003 the prestigious Gordonstoun School of Scotland sought to acquire the property with the help of some NFL school governors. Within a year this process had damaged NFL's reputation and continuing financial viability. Gordonstoun School backed out of a successful buy-out offer on the day contracts were to be exchanged, and contributed to the closing of the school as a result.

GEMS Education successfully acquired the location and site of the Sherfield Manor House in February 2004. The property was subsequently relaunched as Sherfield School in September 2004, operating as a co-educational day school for children aged 2 – 19. It since has been extensively refurbished and has become a successful school in its own right.

http://www.basingstokegazette.co.uk/memories/4235680.Noble_and_rich_history_of_Sherfield_Manor/

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-141229-sherfield-manor-house-sherfield-english

http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=56759#n20

External links

• Sherfield School home page
• GEMS Education
• National Curriculum online official website
• Department for Education and Skills (England)
• Independent Schools Association
• Movie Makers Guide
• Independent Schools Council