Milton Abbey School
Location
Milton Abbas
near Blandford Forum
,
Dorset
,
DT11 0BZ

England
Coordinates50°49′12.74″N 2°17′14.75″W / 50.8202056°N 2.2874306°W / 50.8202056; -2.2874306
Information
TypeIndependent school
Day and boarding school
Religious affiliation(s)Church of England
Established1954 (1954)
Department for Education URN113932 Tables
Chair of GovernorsIan G Bromilow
HeadJudith Fremont-Barnes
Staff129 (including part-time and contracts)
GenderCo-educational
Age13 to 18
Enrollment224 pupils as of September 2019
HousesAthelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonwell
AlumniMilton Abbey Association
Websitewww.miltonabbey.co.uk

Milton Abbey school is an independent school for day and boarding pupils in the village of Milton Abbas, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, in South West England. It has 224 pupils as of September 2019,[1] in five houses: Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonwell.[2] The school was founded in 1954 and is co-educational.[3]

The school has a rural campus, with facilities that include a gym, swimming pool, shooting range, golf course, a 320-seat theatre, art department and design block, an astro turf hockey pitch, an outward bound area, a 15th-century dining hall, an Abbey chapel that can be traced back to the 10th century and grounds designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Recent building developments include a cycling training facility and interactive golf simulator.[4] The main house, which was built by Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester from 1780 onwards, houses the administrative hub of the Estate, classrooms, the Staff Common Room, the King's Room, two of the boys' boarding houses (Athelstan and Hambro) and a girls' boarding house (Hodgkinson). Two newer buildings finished in 2013 hold the remaining girls' (Damer) and boys' (Tregonwell) boarding houses.

Academics

Milton Abbey School offers the English curriculum of GCSEs, A-levels, and BTECs. It is non-selective and well known for its learning support and wide range of BTEC courses in 6th form. The school was named BTEC School of the Year 2019 by BTEC awarding body Pearson.[5] In 2022, Milton Abbey School was noted as having the highest proportion of BTEC student uptake of all English independent schools.[6]

Abbey Church

Milton Abbey School
Milton Abbey Chapel and main building

The Abbey forms the central heart of the school. A chapel service takes place for the whole school twice a week. On Monday there is a house assembly and Wednesday a whole school assembly. On Sundays the school gathers for a formal Sunday worship, and there are regular communion services throughout the term. The school, although a Church of England foundation, welcomes people of any faith, and also of none.

The abbey church is built in a mixture of Ham stone, Chilmark stone and flint and consists only of the choir, central tower and transepts. Its style is mostly decorated gothic dating from the mid-14th century with some 15th-century details in the tower and north transept. The eastern Lady Chapel was demolished after the suppression and some alterations were made by Wyatt in the late 18th century.[7] The Earl and Countess of Dorchester were also generous to the church, and their joint tomb, designed by Robert Adam with sculpture by Agostino Carlini, is to be found in the north transept. Perhaps the most striking feature of the church's interior, however, is its south window, designed as a Tree of Jesse by Augustus Pugin. Other features of interest are the 14th-century pulpitum and sedilia, the 15th-century reredos and pyx canopy, and the 16th-century monument to John Tregonwell.[7]

History

Milton Abbey in the late 19th century

Milton Abbey (fully, the Abbey Church of St Mary, St Samson, and St Branwalader) in Dorset was a Benedictine foundation, but only part of the church now survives and is used as the Milton Abbey School chapel. A college of secular canons was founded here by King Athelstan, in 933,[8] and there are two medieval paintings of the king and his mother in the chancel. This foundation was replaced in 964 by a Benedictine monastery by King Edgar.[9] The medieval church burned down in 1309,[8] and although rebuilding started straight away it did not reach its present size until about 1400.[8]

One of the church's benefactors was Sir John Tregonwell, whose family came into the possession of the buildings in 1540 following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.[8] Tregonwell fell from the roof of the church in a childhood accident, but his life was saved when his wide pantaloons filled with air and broke his fall. In thanks, he bequeathed his library to the church. Sir John also was buried in an altar tomb in the Abbey Church.

In 1752, the buildings were bought by the Damer family:[8] in 1771, to make way for a new house and landscaped estate, the 1st Baron Milton (later 1st Earl of Dorchester) demolished the remaining abbey buildings, keeping only part of the church as a private chapel, and the adjacent market town of Milton (creating Milton Abbas to rehouse the former inhabitants) in 1780. The new house was designed by William Chambers and the gardens by Capability Brown.[8] Several members of the Damer family were buried in the family vault in the Abbey Church.

In 1852, the merchant banker Carl Joachim Hambro acquired Milton Abbey to make it his family home.[8] He set about a major restoration programme, including an extensive refurbishment of the Abbey itself. The Hambro family developed and lived at Milton Abbey until 1932,[8] when it was sold and for a while they moved to Hedge End Farm nearby, followed by a permanent move to Dixton Manor in Gloucestershire.

Milton Abbey School was the setting for "Bamfylde School," in the 1980 13-part TV series of R. F. Delderfield's To Serve Them All My Days. It also featured in the first of the Ripping Yarns by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, titled Tomkinson's Schooldays and in the 1994 film version of "The Browning Version," with Albert Finney and Greta Saatchi.

Burials

Grounds

The parklands were landscaped in the late 18th century by Capability Brown. They are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[10]

In 2009, the school started to develop a farm, which is worked on by staff, to promote environmental awareness and work towards an element of self-sufficiency. Traditional vegetables are grown, in addition to herbs, cutting flowers, fruit and some crops. The estate also has a small number of pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks.

The school has a golf course which winds around the main house and the Abbey Church. Designed by Peter Alliss and opened in 1972, it is a nine-hole course with par-3 and par-4 hours, which is used by pupils and by visitors, who are required to pay a small green fee. The school employs a PGA Professional, who helps to tutor the students.[11]

List of headteachers

  • 1954–55: Revd. C. K. Francis Brown – founding Headmaster
  • 1955–69: Cdr. R. H. Hodgkinson – previously an Officer in the Royal Navy; retired 1969.
  • 1969–79: W. M. T. Holland – previously a housemaster at Eastbourne College; left to enter the priesthood.
  • 1979–87: S. R. D. Hall – previously housemaster at Haileybury, and subsequently appointed as Warden of Glenalmond.
  • 1987–95: R. H. Hardy – previously housemaster at Eton College; retired 1995.
  • 1995–2010: W. J. Hughes-D'Aeth – previously a housemaster at Rugby School, and subsequently appointed to the post of Headmaster of Repton School, Dubai.
  • 2010–14: G. E. Doodes – previously Deputy Headmaster at Milton Abbey and subsequently Principal of George Heriot's School, Edinburgh.
  • 2014–18: Magnus Bashaarat – previously Deputy Head of Stowe.
  • 2018–present: Judith Fremont-Barnes – previously Head at Duke of Kent School in Surrey.

Notable former pupils

References

  1. ↑ The Good Schools Guide Publisher: Lucas Publications Ltd. Published: 30 September 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  2. ↑ Milton Abbey School Publisher: The Council of Milton Abbey School. Published: 28 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  3. ↑ Historic England Publisher: Historic England. Published: 6 March 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  4. ↑ Milton Abbey School Publisher: The Council of Milton Abbey School. Published: 28 October 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  5. ↑ Pope, Lorraine (4 July 2019). "BTEC award winners 2019 unveiled". feweek.co.uk. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  6. ↑ "The Top 50 Schools for BTECs". Top School Guide. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
  7. 1 2 Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches; the South. London: Collins; p. 175
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Milton Abbey: History Archived 17 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ↑ Betjeman, John, ed. (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches; the South. London: Collins; p. 175
  10. ↑ Historic England. "Milton Abbey (1000721)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
  11. ↑ Milton Abbey School Publisher: The Council of Milton Abbey School. Published: 9 September 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  12. ↑ New Edinburgh Castle governor is Robert the Bruce descendant Publisher: BBC News. Published: 24 June 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  13. ↑ Downton Abbey's etiquette expert on how TV drama was rocked by asparagus rammy Publisher: Daily Record and Sunday Mail. Published: 7 August 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  14. ↑ Alastair Bruce of Crionaich, OBE Archived 27 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine Publisher: Parker Entertainments. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  15. ↑ The Dreamboat: Rupert Evans Publisher: London Evening Standard. Published: 2 October 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  16. 1 2 Milton Abbey School – Alumni Archived 7 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Publisher: Tatler Schools Guide 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  17. ↑ Too young, too far, too fast? Publisher: Times Higher Education. Published: 23 February 1998. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  18. ↑ Former Milton Abbey Pupil Jonathan Freeman Attwood made CBE Publisher: Milton Abbey Association of Milton Abbey School. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  19. ↑ Milton Abbey old boy wins BAFTA Publisher: Milton Abbey Association of Milton Abbey School. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  20. ↑ Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 3, page 3960.
  21. ↑ Tom Homer leads London Irish to victory Publisher: The Daily Telegraph. Published: 22 March 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  22. ↑ Charles Mosley, editor, Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes (Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.A.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003), volume 3, page 3835.
  23. ↑ John Alfred Stoddard Nash – Biography Archived 15 May 2014 at archive.today. Publisher: Debrett's People of Today. Retrieved 15 May 2014.
  24. ↑ Noted creator of children's TV programs, Chess enthusiast, philanthropist, and mathematician.
  25. ↑ Ovens named in England Under-20 side Publisher: This is Bath.com – (The Bath Chronicle). Published: 2 February 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  26. ↑ School's double honour Publisher: This is Dorset.com Published: 30 January 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
  27. ↑ Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 107th edition, volume 1, page 1111.
  28. ↑ Hill, Jack W. (4 April 2013). "Italian troubadour follows songwriting path of Dylan". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
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