Cobham Hall
Location
Gravesend
,
Kent
,
DA12 3BL

England
Information
TypePrivate day and boarding school
Established1962
FounderBhicoo Batlivala
Local authorityKent
HeadmistressWendy Barrett
GenderGirls aged 11 to 16, Boys and Girls 16 to 18
Age11 to 18
Enrolment150
AffiliationsGSA
Round Square
Websitewww.cobhamhall.com

Cobham Hall School is a private day and boarding school in the English parish of Cobham, Kent, for girls only in Years 7 to 11 and co-educational in the Sixth Form . It is a Round Square school[1] and a member of the Girls' Schools Association. The school is housed in Cobham Hall, a Tudor era Grade I listed manor house situated in 150 acres of historic parkland on the edge of the Kent Downs. The school featured in the film Wild Child in 2008, as the fictional school that the characters attended, called Abbey Mount.[2]

On 23 February 2021 it was announced that the school would become part of the Mill Hill School Foundation.[3]

School

Cobham Hall was founded as an international boarding school for girls aged between eleven and eighteen by Bhicoo Batlivala in 1962.[4][5] The school now accepts both day and boarding students. Since September 2022, Cobham Hall has also accepted boys into its Sixth Form. Approximately one-third of students are boarders, both UK and international; some 25 nationalities are represented.

Curriculum

Girls in Years 7 to 9 broadly follow the English National Curriculum alongside a skills-based development programme. Girls in Middle School (up to Year 11) follow the GCSE curriculum.[6] In the Sixth Form, A Levels are studied as part of a broad curriculum which also encompasses the Extended Project Qualification, The Ivy House Award, Global Critical Thinking, The Duke of Edinburgh's Award or Service, Sport, and a Tutorial programme to support students through the university application process. The school has a specialist EFL Department, as well as a CReSTeD accredited Student Support Department.

The school also offers a range of tailored programmes for international students, including a Pre-A Level Course. Intensive English Support programmes are available for those whose first language is not English.

The building

Cobham Hall, circa 1880

There has been a manor house on the site since the 12th century. The current building consists of a pair of 16th-century Tudor wings and a later classical central block, the 'Cross Wing'.[7] Alterations were made by Sir William Chambers, c. 1767–70[8] The most notable feature of the interior is the two-storey Gilt Hall, c, 1770–81.[9] The fourth earl of Darnley, who inherited in 1781, employed the architect James Wyatt extensively.[10] The landscape designer Humphry Repton was hired to draw up a plan for the estate and two of his sons designed features of the building.

Cobham Hall remained the family home of the Earls of Darnley until 1957 and is now home to the school. As of 2014 it was open to the public on a limited number of days each year.[11]

The building has been used as a film set. A scene in Agent Cody Banks 2 in which Frankie Muniz fights Keith Allen in a room full of priceless treasures was filmed in the Gilt Hall. Scenes from an adaption of Bleak House were filmed outside the building, and it was used in a few scenes in the comedy sketch show Tittybangbang. The Hall is used as the school 'Abbey Mount' in the 2008 film Wild Child starring Emma Roberts and as the Foundling Hospital in the CBBC adaptation of Hetty Feather.

Notable alumnae

References

  1. ↑ Round Square Archived 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ↑ "Wild Child Film Locations". Kent Film Office. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  3. ↑ "Cobham School" (PDF). Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  4. ↑ "Cobham Hall School Gravesend Cobham". www.educationbase.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  5. ↑ Hancock, Brenda (2016). Ever-Widening Circles or Road to Baba. New York: Page Publishing. pp. 74–75. ISBN 978-1-68348-476-9.
  6. ↑ Academic Archived 5 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ Howard Colvin, "Peter Mills and Cobham Hall" in Colvin and John Harris, The Country Seat1970.
  8. ↑ Colvin, A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840 3rd ed. 1995, s.v. "Chambers, Sir William".
  9. ↑ John Cornforth, in Country Life, 3–10 March 1983, citing documents in Kent Archives Office, noted in Colvin 1995, s.v. "Shakespear, George".
  10. ↑ Colvin 1995, s.v. "Wyatt, James".
  11. ↑ "Open to the public - Cobham Hall". Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  12. ↑ "African autocrat's daughter Isabel dos Santos revealed as owner of £13m London mansion". The Times. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  13. ↑ Cope, Rebecca (13 August 2019). "Africa's richest woman Isabel dos Santos revealed as owner of £13 million Kensington home". The Tatler. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
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