Loughborough Amherst School

Last updated

Loughborough Amherst School
ExtendedHeaderBackgroundImage LAS quad l89xhe.jpg
Address
Loughborough Amherst School
Gray Street

, ,
LE11 2DZ

Coordinates 52°45′36″N1°12′29″W / 52.76°N 1.208°W / 52.76; -1.208
Information
TypeIndependent
Motto
Religious affiliation(s) Roman Catholic
Established1850;174 years ago (1850)
FounderAntonio Rosmini
Department for Education URN 120317 Tables
ChairmanRoger Harrison
HeadmasterJames Neville [1]
GenderCoeducational (from September 2019)
Age4to 18
HousesAgnes, Peter, Rosmini and Teresa
Colour(s)Teal, white and navy    
Website www.lsf.org/amherst

Loughborough Amherst School, formerly known as Our Lady's Convent School (OLCS), is an independent day and boarding school for girls and boys aged 4 to 18. It is situated in Loughborough, UK. It is founded on traditional Catholic principles and embraces all faiths. [2]

Contents

Until August/September 2015, it was run by the Rosminian order. In September 2015, it became subsumed into the Loughborough Endowed Schools, a body which changed its registered name with effect from 19 April 2018 to "Loughborough Schools Foundation". The Rosminian Sisters continue to occupy part of the site. The school buildings are leased by the Rosminians to the Loughborough Schools Foundation. [3]

The main convent building and chapel were designed by renowned Gothic Revival architect, Charles Hansom, and are grade II listed.

A wide variety of GCSE and A Level subjects are offered in the Senior department. As a Catholic school, RS GCSE is compulsory. There is a wide variety of cultural, musical and sporting activities offered as part of the school's co-curricular programme, including Duke of Edinburgh's Award and Combined Cadet Force. As a member of the Loughborough Schools Foundation, Amherst pupils benefit from the Midlands' only 'All Steinway' Music Department and extensive sports facilities at the £3.5 million Parkin Sports Centre completed in 2019.

In April 2018, [4] the school announced a new policy of accepting boys into the secondary school from September 2019. This was announced alongside a new name – Loughborough Amherst School. In the same year, Amherst welcomed its first boarders as part of its elite tennis programme, in partnership with Loughborough University National Tennis Academy (LUNTA). [5]

Origins and history [6]

In 1841, Lady Mary Arundell (c. 1785-1845) (widow of Lord Arundell of Wardour) opened a small school for girls in her home Paget House in Woodgate, Loughborough.

Lady Mary asked the Rosminian Sisters of Providence to assist her in this endeavour and two nuns from Italy were sent to Loughborough. On the Solemnity of the Annunciation ("Lady Day") 25 March 1844, the Rosminian sisters took charge of the work, which thus became the first Roman Catholic school in England run by religious sisters.

Mary Amherst (Sister Mary Agnes) (1824-1860) joined the Order in 1846 and came to Loughborough. In 1854, she became the first Superior in England of the Order. Loughborough became the central house of the Rosminian Sisters in England.

Mary was a young lady engaged to the renowned architect Augustus Pugin. Pugin had proposed to Mary in November 1844, shortly after the death of his second wife. Mary had accepted. However, the engagement did not last, for in May 1846 Mary entered the Order of the Rosminian Sisters of Providence. Mary's brother William became a Jesuit. Her brother Francis became Roman Catholic Bishop of Nottingham (1858 to 1879).

A convent was established at Gray Street, Loughborough and the school moved to Gray Street. The convent and chapel were designed by architect Charles Hansom, brother of the inventor of the Hansom cab. Charles was an acolyte of Augustus Pugin.

Alumnae

Alumnae include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augustus Pugin</span> English architect and designer

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival style of architecture. His work culminated in designing the interior of the Palace of Westminster in Westminster, London, and its renowned clock tower, the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the bell known as Big Ben. Pugin designed many churches in England, and some in Ireland and Australia. He was the son of Auguste Pugin, and the father of Edward Welby Pugin and Peter Paul Pugin, who continued his architectural firm as Pugin & Pugin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Hansom</span> British architect

Joseph Aloysius Hansom was a British architect working principally in the Gothic Revival style. He invented the Hansom cab and founded the eminent architectural journal The Builder in 1843.

Loughborough High School is a selective, independent school for girls in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It is one of five independent schools known collectively as the Loughborough Schools Foundation (LSF), Loughborough Grammar School for boys, Fairfield Preparatory School and Loughborough Amherst School, and the newly founded Loughborough Nursery. All five of the Schools are autonomous, and yet they share the same vision and educational ethos, supported by a united board of governors. Founded on 11 March, 1850, it is believed to be the country's oldest grammar schools for girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ratcliffe College</span> Public school in Leicestershire, England

Ratcliffe College is a coeducational Catholic private boarding and day school near the village of Ratcliffe on the Wreake, Leicestershire, approximately 7 miles (11 km) from Leicester, England. The college, situated in 200 acres (0.81 km2) of parkland on the Fosse Way about six miles (10 km) north of Leicester, was founded on the instructions of Blessed Father Antonio Rosmini-Serbati in 1845 as a seminary. In 1847, the buildings were converted for use as a boarding school for upper-class boys. The college became coeducational under the presidency of Father Tony Baxter in the mid-1970s. As of the 2023-2024 academic years, there were 920 students on roll at Ratcliffe, from ages 3 to 18.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Frances Xavier Warde</span> One of the original Sisters of Mercy

Mary Frances Xavier Warde R.S.M. (1810-1884) was one of the original Sisters of Mercy, a Roman Catholic religious congregation of women founded in Ireland by Catherine McAuley, and the foundress of the order in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Marys Bay, New Zealand</span> Suburb in Auckland, New Zealand

Saint Marys Bay is an inner suburb of Auckland, New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">E. W. Pugin</span> English architect

Edward Welby Pugin was an English architect, the eldest son of architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton and part of the Pugin & Pugin family of church architects. His father was an architect and designer of Neo-Gothic architecture, and after his death in 1852 Edward took up his successful practice. At the time of his own early death in 1875, Pugin had designed and completed more than one hundred Catholic churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardman & Co.</span>

Hardman & Co., otherwise John Hardman Trading Co., Ltd., founded 1838, began manufacturing stained glass in 1844 and became one of the world's leading manufacturers of stained glass and ecclesiastical fittings. The business closed in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Nottingham</span> Roman Catholic diocese in England

The Diocese of Nottingham is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England and a suffragan of the Metropolitan Diocese of Westminster.

The Rosminians, officially named the Institute of Charity, abbreviated I.C., are a Roman Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men founded by Antonio Rosmini and first organised in 1828.

The Sisters of Providence of the Institute of Charity, more commonly called the Rosminian Sisters of Providence, are a Roman Catholic religious institute for women founded in Italy in 1832.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake</span> Church in Mortlake, London

St Mary Magdalen Roman Catholic Church, Mortlake, is a Roman Catholic church in North Worple Way, Mortlake, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The church is dedicated to Jesus' companion Mary Magdalene. It is located just south of Mortlake High Street and the Anglican St Mary the Virgin Church. St Mary Magdalen's Catholic Primary School is just north of the churchyard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Francis of Assisi Church, Handsworth</span> Church in Birmingham, United Kingdom

St Francis of Assisi Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Birmingham. While the church is located between the Lozells and Hockley parts of the city, the parish covers most of Handsworth. It was founded in 1840, originally as a chapel in the nearby listed building, St. Mary's Convent designed by Augustus Pugin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Convent, Handsworth</span>

St Mary's Convent is a house for the community of the local Sisters of Mercy in Birmingham. Although it is situated between the Lozells and Hockley parts of the city, the community also serves the parish in Handsworth. It was founded in 1840 and was designed by Augustus Pugin. On 25 April 1952 it was designated as a Grade II* listed building by English Heritage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Stephen's Chapel, Brisbane</span> Heritage-listed building in Brisbane, Queensland

St Stephen's Chapel, also known as the Pugin Chapel, and formerly known as Old St Stephen's Church, is a heritage-listed Roman Catholic former church, now chapel, located at 249 Elizabeth Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Augustus Pugin and built from 1848 to 1850 by Alexander Goold and Andrew Petrie.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Augustine's Church, Ramsgate</span> Church in Kent, United Kingdom

St Augustine's Church or the Shrine of St Augustine of Canterbury is a Roman Catholic church in Ramsgate, Kent. It was the personal church of Augustus Pugin, the renowned nineteenth-century architect, designer, and reformer. The church is an example of Pugin's design ideas, and forms a central part of Pugin's collection of buildings in Ramsgate. Having built his home, Pugin began work on St Augustine's in 1846 and worked on it until his death in 1852. His sons completed many of the designs. This is the site where Pugin is buried, in a vault beneath the chantry chapel he designed, alongside several members of his family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Woolwich</span> Church in London, UK

St Peter's Church is a Catholic church in Woolwich, South East London. It is situated between Woolwich New Road and Brookhill Road, the main entrance being on Woolwich New Road. The church was designed by Augustus Pugin in 1841–42 in the style of the Gothic Revival and is one of only three Pugin churches in London. Pugin's design remained unfinished as the projected tower and spire were never built. The parish of St Peter the Apostle serves the Catholic community of central Woolwich and surrounding areas, and is part of the Archdiocese of Southwark which is in the Province of Southwark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of St Michael and St John</span> Church in New South Wales, Australia

Cathedral of St Michael and St John is a heritage-listed Roman Catholic cathedral at 107 William Street, Bathurst, Bathurst Region, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Charles Hansom and built from 1857 to 1861 by Edward Gell. It is also known as Cathedral of Saints Michael and John. The cathedral is the episcopal see of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Bathurst. The property is owned by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Thomas of Canterbury Church, Fulham</span> Church in London , United Kingdom

St Thomas of Canterbury Church, also known as St Thomas's, Rylston Road, is a Roman Catholic parish church in Fulham, central London. Designed in the Gothic Revival style by Augustus Pugin in 1847, the building is Grade II* listed with Historic England. It stands at 60 Rylston Road, Fulham, next to Pugin's Grade II listed presbytery, the churchyard, and St Thomas's primary school, also largely by Pugin, close to the junction with Lillie Road in the borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Loughborough</span> Church in Loughborough, United Kingdom

St Mary's Church or St Mary of the Annunciation Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It was built in 1834 in the neoclassical style and has been served by the Rosminians since 1841, it was their first church in the UK, and outside of Italy. It is located opposite the junction of Ashby Road and Radmoor Road to the west of the town centre. It is a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. "Headmaster - Loughborough Amherst School | Loughborough Amherst School".
  2. School web site
  3. Information from the Rosminians' accounts as lodged with Charity Commission and viewed on Charity Commission website.
  4. Rush, Andy (27 April 2018). "Convent school name change and boys allowed". Loughborough Echo. Retrieved 12 May 2019.
  5. "LUNTA" (PDF).
  6. The information in this section is drawn mainly from a Paper "The Rosminian Sisters of Providence" by Sister Maria Bruna Ferretti which may be viewed on website www.rosmini.org/docs/Sisters.doc