history of hatherop castle

THE SCHOOL

After the Second World War Owlstone Croft School in Cambridgeshire leased Hatherop Castle from the Bazley family, under the leadership of Mrs Theodora Fyfe. It changed its name to Hatherop Castle School. There must have been alot to do to the building, as during the war the property had been requisitioned by the Government and used as a Special Training School for the army. Development continued into the 1950's when some of the stable yard buildings were converted into classrooms.

In 1972 the Trustees of the School bought the building and land from Sir Thomas Bazley, and Dr Pandora Moorhead was appointed Headmistress and Principal. At this time there were about 130 pupils. A sixth form annex ran at Coln Manor. There were a number of overseas students, which was unusual at the time, due to connections of Dr Moorhead. Juliet Stainforth, a pupil but also granddaughter of Henriette Cadogan remembers the school with affection.

Mr Brian Forster replaced Dr Moorhead upon her retirement. Single sex boarding education was at this time going through a bit of a downturn in popularity, and it was decided that the very successful Prep School should take precedence. In Summer 1992 the school closed its doors to senior girls and opened in September of the same year as a Prep School under the headship of Mr Paul Easterbrook and his wife Sally. The school has continued to go from strength to strength and flourish.

Taken from the book Hatherop Castle - A History by Ann Coghlan

THE CASTLE

The name Hatherop is derived from the Anglo-Saxon for 'high-thorpe' meaning a farmstead on high ground. The location of the buildings on top of the hill is most obvious when approached from the village of Coln St Aldwyns.

The first mention of the land is in the Domesday Book when the smaller of two manors was held by Roger de Laci, one of the powerful Norman barons who fought at the Battle of Hastings. An association between the Hatherop estate and religious foundations was made in the 12th century and in 1222 William, son of Roger de Laci, settled some Cathusian monks at Hatherop. After Williams death his widow, Ela moved the monks to Somerset and herself became Abbess of Lacock Priory in Wiltshire. Around 1231 or 1232 she endowed Lacock Abbey with the manor of Hatherop. It thus remained in the Abbey's possession until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, though it was rented to a local family, the de Handles in the mid 14th Century.

The manor passed through the hands of William Sherrington to John Blomer who did work on the main house which may be illustrated in an 18th century sketch by Kip. This would have been when the tower was erected, and the construction of the front of the building was settled much as it is today. John Blomer's great granddaughter, Mary, became heir to the house, and she married Sir John Webb of Canford in Dorset and for the next 300 years the Webb family owned Hatherop. In 1779 it is recorded that the house and gardens were in need of attention as the Webbs were not much in residence. It was at this time that the house contained some full length portraits of Blomers, Webbs and Stuart royalty. One portrait, subsequently sold to Queen Victoria was of Charles I. The Blomers and Webbs are noteworthy for staying true to their Roman Catholic faith through the difficult period of the 17th and 18th centuries. Roman Catholics were barred from a number of offices, and had to pay fines for continuing in their religion and not attending Protestant services. It is said that there is a tunnel in the grounds of the Castle, since sealed, that dates from this time, where no doubt those persecuted could escape.

The house became involved in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715, when sympathisers gathered there before the uprising. James Ratcliffe who married Sir John Webb's daughter, Anna Maria, was executed on Tower Hill for his part in the uprising. The dismembered body found some 150 years later is thought likely to be him.

Lady Barbara Ashley Cooper, daughter of the Earl of Shaftesbury inherited the estate from the 5th Baronet Webb. In 1814 she married William Ponsonby, later Lord de Mauley. The gateway to the outdoor pool bears his initials. Lady Barbara's tomb can be seen in Hatherop Church. In the mid 19th century there was extensive rebuilding of the property, and the architect employed was Henry Clutton. Materials from nearby Bibury were used and joiners from Peterborough were employed to work with the oak used. A diary entry from May 1857 from Teresa Llewellyn records some features of the building still prominent today, such as the chimney piece in the front hall, and the yew walk which was remarkable even then. This building work produced the back of the building as we know it today, but preserved the Jacobean front. The Victorian octagonal kitchen is one of the very few still in use as a kitchen today.

The house was sold in 1862 to the Maharajah Dhuleep Singh, but it was a short ownership and the house was bought in 1867 by Sir Thomas Bazley, son of a Lancashire industrialist.His daughter in law Ruth Bazley was to play a significant part in the Castle's history. She came to run the household as her son inherited when only a boy. During the First World War she provided accommodation at Hatherop for wounded officers of the Commonwealth countries during convalescence. After the war the management of the Hatherop establishment became more difficult but the ever resourceful Ruth Cadogan, as she was by then, set upon educating her own daughters and those of others under the newly established P.N.E.U system. This was a system of education by correspondence. Nancy Mitford was one of the girls who came to Hatherop. The school was transferred to Mrs Fyfe at Owlstone Croft in Cambridge, once the last of Ruth's daughter left. In 1937 the grand staircase had been painted by Mrs Van Leiden and features the family and local people.

During the Second World War first the land and then the buildings at Hatherop were requisitioned by the Government. A section of the army allied to the Resistance Movement was billeted there and Hatherop thus became Special Training School 45. At the end of the war Hatherop was derequisitioned but as the task of restoring the buildings would have been too vast Sir Thomas Bazley let Owlstone Croft School take on the lease. Upon moving the school changed its name to Hatherop Castle School, though the owl still features in some school emblems.

Taken from the book Hatherop Castle - A History by Ann Coghlan