| St Peter's Court | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
 | |
| , | |
| Coordinates | 51°21′N1°25′E / 51.35°N 1.42°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent prep school |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Church of England |
| Closed | 1969 |
| Gender | Boys |
| Age | 7to 13 |
St Peter's Court was a preparatory school for boys at Broadstairs in Kent, UK. In 1969, it merged with the nearby Wellesley House School and its site was redeveloped for housing.
The school was established during the 19th century and came to prominence in the early 20th century when it was chosen by the Prince of Wales (later King George V) for his younger sons. During the Second World War it was evacuated to Shobrooke House, near Crediton in Devon, [1] and its headmaster, F. G. Ridgeway, predicted that after the war many preparatory schools would not survive much longer. [2] In the event, the move to Devon had one alarming result. At 4am on 23 January 1945, while occupied by some 70 St Peter's schoolboys and staff, Shobrooke House caught fire and was almost completely destroyed, with the death of two of the boys. [3]
After the end of the war, the school returned to Broadstairs and was able to continue for many more years. In 1954, it had two joint headmasters, the Rev. F. G. Ridgeway and C. C. Ridgeway, M.A., the number of boys was stated as 70 to 80, and there were ten teaching staff ("seven resident masters and three ladies"). [4] In 1969, the school merged with Wellesley House.
The school had its own Eton fives court, [5] and many of its boys were prepared for Eton College. The writer Simon Raven later recalled, "St Peter's Court was once a very smart private school, much patronised by the Royal family." [6]
In October 2019, Wellesley House celebrated the 50th anniversary of its amalgamation with St Peter's Court. [7]
Those educated at St Peter's Court include:
The King's School is a public school in Canterbury, Kent, England. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group. It is Britain's oldest public school; and is arguably the oldest continuously operating school in the world, since education on the Abbey and Cathedral grounds has been uninterrupted since AD 597.
Eton College is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore, making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Originally intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, Eton is particularly well known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni.
Prince William of Gloucester was a grandson of King George V and paternal cousin of Queen Elizabeth II. At birth he was fourth in line to the throne; he was ninth in line at the time of his death.
Datchet is a village and civil parish in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England, located on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically part of Buckinghamshire, and the Stoke Hundred, the village was eventually transferred to Berkshire, under the Local Government Act of 1972. The village developed because of its close proximity to Windsor and the ferry service which connected it to the main London Road across the River Thames. The ferry was later replaced by a road bridge at the foot of the High Street, which was rebuilt three times. There is also a rail bridge approaching Windsor across the river, and two road bridges above and below the village.
Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, in the County of Hampshire, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1885 for the Conservative politician Lord Henry Montagu Douglas Scott, who had earlier represented Selkirkshire and South Hampshire in the House of Commons. He was the second son of Walter Montagu Douglas Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch. His son, the second Baron, sat as a Conservative Member of Parliament for New Forest. The 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu was one of the ninety elected hereditary peers that remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999, and sat on the Conservative benches. As descendants of the 5th Duke of Buccleuch, the Barons Montagu of Beaulieu are also in remainder to this peerage and its subsidiary titles.
Edward John Barrington Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu was a British aristocrat and Conservative politician, best known for founding the National Motor Museum, as well as for a pivotal cause célèbre following his 1954 conviction and imprisonment for alleged homosexual activity, a charge he denied.
Ludgrove School is an English independent boys' preparatory boarding school. Ludgrove was founded in 1892 at Ludgrove Hall in Middlesex by the Old Etonian sportsman Arthur Dunn. Dunn had been employed as a master at Elstree School, which sent boys mainly to Harrow, and intended to nurture a school that focused on preparing boys to enter Eton. His educational philosophy was atypical by the standards of the time: discipline was applied with a lighter touch, and masters were neither discouraged from mixing with pupils outside the classroom, nor from being on familiar terms with the headmaster.
Port Regis School is a co-educational preparatory school located in 140 acres of parkland on the Dorset-Wiltshire border in southern England, situated between the towns of Shaftesbury and Gillingham.
Cheam School is a mixed preparatory school located in Headley, in the civil parish of Ashford Hill with Headley in Hampshire. Originally a boys school, Cheam was founded in 1645 by George Aldrich.
Farleigh School is a Catholic preparatory day and boarding school in Andover, Hampshire, England. Situated in 60 acres (240,000 m2) of parkland in the Test Valley, Hampshire, it educates around 430 children. The current school comprises a pre-prep department and the main prep school.
Beaumont College was between 1861 and 1967 a public school in Old Windsor in Berkshire. Founded and run by the Society of Jesus, it offered a Roman Catholic public school education in rural surroundings, while lying, like the neighbouring Eton College, within easy reach of London. It was therefore for many professional Catholics with school-age children a choice preferable to Stonyhurst College, the longer-standing Jesuit public school in North Lancashire. After the college's closure in 1967 the property was used in turn as a training centre, a conference centre and an hôtel; St John's Beaumont, the college's preparatory school for boys aged 3–13, continues, functioning in part as a feeder school for Stonyhurst.
Twyford School is a co-educational, private, preparatory boarding and day school, located in the village of Twyford, Hampshire, England.
Walhampton School is a coeducational private preparatory school situated in the hamlet of Walhampton, near Lymington, England. It is the result of the 1997 merger between Hordle House School, situated in Milford on Sea, and Walhampton School, which was based at the current site. The merged school was known as ’Hordle Walhampton’ until 2013, when it reverted to its previous name of 'Walhampton School'.
Heatherdown School, formally called Heatherdown Preparatory School, was an independent preparatory school for boys, near Ascot, in the English county of Berkshire. Set in 30 acres (12 ha) of grounds, it typically taught between eighty and ninety boys between the ages of seven and thirteen and closed in 1982.
Lockers Park School is a day and boarding preparatory and pre-preparatory school for boys, situated in 23 acres of countryside in Boxmoor, Hertfordshire. Its headmaster is Gavin Taylor.
John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu, was a British Conservative politician, soldier and promoter of motoring. He was the father of Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 3rd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu who would go on to found the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in Montagu's memory.
Neil Lutley Sclater-Booth, 5th Baron Basing was a British nobleman and New York financier.
Wellesley Haddon Dene School is a private day and boarding preparatory school in the coastal town of Broadstairs in the English county of Kent. Founded in 1866, it educates boys and girls aged 3 to 13. The merger of Haddon Dene School with Wellesley House School to form the newly named Wellesley Haddon Dene School, plans to expand, will eventually mean that pupil numbers can rise to a maximum of 320 pupils, from a previous maximum of 210 pupils. The school also includes a number of pupils with Special educational needs and disability(SEND), which in 2023 stood at 23.
