Milton Abbey School facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Milton Abbey School |
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| Location | |
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Milton Abbas
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near Blandford Forum DT11 0BZ
England
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| Coordinates | 50°49′12.74″N 2°17′14.75″W / 50.8202056°N 2.2874306°W |
| Information | |
| Type | Private Day and boarding school |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Established | 1954 |
| Department for Education URN | 113932 Tables |
| Chair of Governors | Ian G Bromilow |
| Head | James Watson |
| Staff | 129 (including part-time and contracts) |
| Gender | Co-educational |
| Age | 13 to 18 |
| Enrollment | 224 pupils as of September 2023[update] |
| Houses | Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonwell |
| Alumni | Milton Abbey Association |
Milton Abbey School is a private school in the village of Milton Abbas, in Dorset, England. It's a school where students can live (boarding) or just attend classes during the day. As of September 2023, there were 224 students. The school has five houses: Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson, and Tregonwell. Milton Abbey School was started in 1954 and welcomes both boys and girls.
The school has amazing facilities. These include a golf course, a dining hall from the 1400s, and an Abbey chapel that dates back to the 900s. The beautiful grounds were designed by a famous landscape architect named Lancelot "Capability" Brown. The main school building was built by Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester.
Contents
What Students Learn
Milton Abbey School teaches the English national curriculum. Students can study for their GCSEs and A-levels. They also offer BTECs, which are practical qualifications.
In 2019, the school was named "BTEC School of the Year" by Pearson, the company that gives out BTEC awards. In 2022, Milton Abbey School was noted for having the most BTEC students among all independent schools in England.
The Abbey Church
The Abbey Church is the central part of the school. Students attend a chapel service twice a week. On Mondays, there is a house assembly, and on Wednesdays, a whole school assembly. On Sundays, the school gathers for a formal worship service. There are also regular communion services throughout the term. Even though the school has a Church of England background, it welcomes students of all faiths, or no faith at all.
The Abbey Church is built from different types of stone and flint. It only has the choir, central tower, and transepts left. Its style is mostly decorated gothic from the mid-1300s, with some parts from the 1400s. The eastern Lady Chapel was taken down a long time ago.
Inside the church, you can see the tomb of the Earl and Countess of Dorchester. It was designed by Robert Adam and has sculptures by Agostino Carlini. One of the most striking features is the south window, which shows a "Tree of Jesse" design by Augustus Pugin. Other interesting things include a pulpitum and sedilia from the 1300s, a reredos and pyx canopy from the 1400s, and a monument to John Tregonwell from the 1500s.
School History
Milton Abbey was originally a Benedictine monastery. Today, only part of the church remains and is used as the Milton Abbey School chapel. A college of priests was first started here by King Athelstan in 933. You can see two old paintings of the king and his mother in the church. This college was replaced by a Benedictine monastery in 964 by King Edgar. The medieval church burned down in 1309. Even though rebuilding started right away, it didn't reach its current size until around 1400.
One important person who helped the church was Sir John Tregonwell. His family took over the buildings in 1540 after the monasteries were closed down in 1539. A story says that when John was a child, he fell from the church roof. But his wide trousers filled with air and saved him! Because of this, he gave his library to the church. Sir John was also buried in the Abbey Church.
In 1752, the Damer family bought the buildings. In 1771, to make space for a new house and beautiful gardens, the first Baron Milton (who later became the first Earl of Dorchester) pulled down the remaining abbey buildings. He kept only part of the church as a private chapel. In 1780, he also moved the nearby market town of Milton to create Milton Abbas, where the former residents were rehoused. The new house was designed by William Chambers, and the gardens by Capability Brown.
In 1852, a banker named Carl Joachim Hambro bought Milton Abbey to be his family home. He started a big project to restore the Abbey, including a lot of work on the church itself. The Hambro family lived at Milton Abbey until 1932.
Milton Abbey School has been used as a filming location. It was the setting for "Bamfylde School" in the 1980 TV series To Serve Them All My Days. It also appeared in Tomkinson's Schooldays, one of the Ripping Yarns by Michael Palin and Terry Jones. The school was also featured in the 1994 film version of The Browning Version.
School Grounds
The parklands around the school were designed in the late 1700s by Capability Brown. They are listed as a Grade II* historic park.
In 2009, the school started a farm. Staff and students work on it to learn about the environment and to grow some of their own food. They grow traditional vegetables, herbs, flowers, fruit, and some crops. The estate also has a small number of pigs, sheep, chickens, and ducks.
The school has a golf course that goes around the main house and the Abbey Church. It was designed by Peter Alliss and opened in 1972. It's a nine-hole course used by students and visitors. The school also has a golf professional who helps teach the students.
Headteachers of Milton Abbey School
- 1954–55: Revd. C. K. Francis Brown – the first Headmaster
- 1955–69: Cdr. R. H. Hodgkinson – previously an Officer in the Royal Navy
- 1969–79: W. M. T. Holland – previously a housemaster at Eastbourne College
- 1979–87: S. R. D. Hall – previously housemaster at Haileybury
- 1987–95: R. H. Hardy – previously housemaster at Eton College
- 1995–2010: W. J. Hughes-D'Aeth – previously a housemaster at Rugby School
- 2010–14: G. E. Doodes – previously Deputy Headmaster at Milton Abbey
- 2014–18: Magnus Bashaarat – previously Deputy Head of Stowe
- 2018–2023: Judith Fremont-Barnes – previously Head at Duke of Kent School
- 2023–current: James Watson – previously Senior Deputy Headmaster at Milton Abbey
Famous Former Students
- Alastair Bruce, Governor of Edinburgh Castle and royal commentator
- Rupert Evans, actor
- Alexander Faludy, a former child genius who was the youngest student at Cambridge since 1773
- Jonathan Freeman-Attwood, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music
- Edward Hay, 13th Marquess of Tweeddale
- Tom Homer, rugby union player
- Charles Montagu, 5th Baron Swaythling
- Francis Fulford, landowner and TV personality
- Baron Nash, a government minister and co-founder of the charity Future
- Edward Barnes, creator of children's TV programmes
- Josh Ovens, rugby union player
- Eric Saumarez, 7th Baron de Saumarez
- Mark Shand, travel writer and conservationist
- Ray Tarantino, rock singer-songwriter
- Vincenzo Townshend, record producer
- Prince Rostislav Romanov
- Rupert Mitford, 6th Baron Redesdale
