Moreton Hall School

Last updated

Moreton Hall
Address
Moreton Hall School
Weston Rhyn

Oswestry, Shropshire
,
SY11 3EW

England
Coordinates 52°54′50″N3°02′55″W / 52.9140°N 3.0486°W / 52.9140; -3.0486
Information
Type Private day and boarding school
MottoScholarship, Gaiety, Humanity
Established1913
FounderEllen Lloyd-Williams
Local authorityShropshire
Department for Education URN 123604 Tables
PrincipalMichael Brewer
Staff220~
GenderGirls (6 months–18), boys (6 months–13)
Age6 monthsto 18
Enrolment490~
HousesCalvert, Norton, Roberts, Vincent
Colour(s)  Blue
Former pupils Old Moretonians
School SongGaude Plebs Redemptionis
Website www.moretonhall.org

Moreton Hall is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 6 months to 18 and boys aged 6 months to 13, [1] situated in North Shropshire four miles from the market town of Oswestry. [2] Founded in 1913, Moreton Hall celebrated its centenary in 2012/13. Much of the early history of the school is unrecorded, but Michael Charlesworth, [3] [4] chairman of the Governors for twelve years, wrote the "Story of Moreton Hall" [5] to mark the ninetieth anniversary.

Contents

History

Beginnings

Ellen Augusta Crawley Lloyd-Williams [6] was left with a family of two sons and nine daughters to care for on the death of her husband, John Jordan Lloyd-Williams, who had been headmaster of Oswestry School. [7] She had already addressed the problem of educating her family by setting up a small school in 1913, in Lloran house, which was once a boarding house for Oswestry School. Among the boarders were her three youngest daughters, some of their cousins and friends. There were also two boys on the rolls. Elder sisters Grace and Mary joined the teaching staff. Ellen bought Moreton Hall in 1919.

Development

Ellen died in 1940. She was succeeded by her daughter, Mary, a musician. Mary died in 1945 at a relatively young age and was commemorated by a bronze sculpture by Karel Vogel [8] depicting three pupils playing musical instruments. Her sister Bronwyn Lloyd-Williams had trained at the Bedford College of Physical Training and was a freelance journalist in London. She had frequently visited Moreton Hall, choreographing dance productions, teaching lacrosse (she had captained Wales) and cricket and leading rambles in the surrounding countryside. She left her career to take on the headship and continued in this role until her resignation, soon followed by her death in 1973. This ended the "family" period of the school which continued its development as an educational trust. [9] Roger Goolden (1933–2014), appointed by Bronwen Lloyd-Williams in 1963, held the position of Clerk of Works until 1993. He oversaw a significant extension of the school buildings, including a boarding block and swimming pool.

Present day

The school, a private limited company, [10] is set in 100 acres (40 ha) of parkland on the Shropshire/North Wales border, four miles from the market town of Oswestry and an hour from Manchester Airport and Birmingham Airport, West Midlands. The school is made up of two parts: Moreton Hall Prep (the Junior School) [11] for boys and girls aged 3–11 and the senior school for girls aged 11 and over and boys up to the age of 13. First Steps Nursery opened in 2007 for 1- to 3-year-olds. [12] The Principal is Micheal Brewer [13] and the Head of Moreton Hall Prep, John Bond. [14] Michael Brewer has been appointed the new Principal of Moreton Hall as of September 2023.

Shropshire countryside Shropshire-countryside.jpg
Shropshire countryside


Academics

Moreton Hall offers a range of subjects at both GCSE and A Level.

The Midyis [15] Value Added League Table produced by Durham University in 2010 and again in 2011 ranks Moreton Hall as the top school nationally in value added ratings.

Extra-curricular

Music

Moreton Hall has a music department offering a wide range of musical activities to GCSE and A Level. The school has a range of musical groups and ensembles for all ages and abilities.

Sport

Lacrosse and hockey are the principal winter sports; regularly girls are selected from the senior teams to represent the Junior Midlands Lacrosse team at the national territorial tournament. The school 2nd team are the current Welsh Lacrosse Association Rally champions. The School's first team recently became national lacrosse champions in 2024.

Hockey is also played, with at least one team every year representing Shropshire at the Midland Regional Hockey Association Finals. Cross-country is another key winter sport, with many junior and senior girls being selected to represent the county and in 2010 the Junior team qualified for the English Schools' Cross Country National Finals. [16] Fourteen outdoor courts and one county-size indoor court are available for tennis. Athletics continues to grow as a major sport at Moreton during the summer term. Students have the opportunity to train at a track in Wrexham.

Drama and public speaking

Performing arts activities include music, drama, verse speaking, public speaking and debating. The Senior and Middle School put on two major plays/musicals every year and the Junior School put on plays throughout the year. Students regularly take part in speaking and debating competitions such as the Business and Professional Women's Public Speaking Competition, [17] the Shropshire Festival of Verse and Prose and Thomas Cranmer Awards. [18]

Moreton Enterprises

Moreton Enterprises [19] is a business venture which was established at the school 25 years ago. There are seven retail businesses and two service based businesses (Events Management and Environmental Services). The businesses are all managed by the Lower Sixth (Year 12) girls. [20] An early Enterprise was the re-opening of nearby Gobowen railway station, headed by geography teacher David Lloyd and pupils at the school. David Lloyd is remembered by having a locomotive of the Wrexham & Shropshire Railway company named after him.

Noted Old Moretonians

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswestry</span> Town in Shropshire, England

Oswestry is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5, A483 and A495 roads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellesmere, Shropshire</span> Town in Shropshire, England

Ellesmere is a town in the civil parish of Ellesmere Urban, in Shropshire, England; it is located near to the Welsh border, the towns of Oswestry and Whitchurch, and the Welsh city of Wrexham. It is notable for its proximity to a number of prominent meres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oswestry School</span> Public school in Shropshire, England

Oswestry School is an ancient public school, located in Oswestry, Shropshire, England. It was founded in 1407 as a 'free' school, being independent of the church. This gives it the distinction of being the second-oldest 'free' school in the country, between Winchester College and Eton College (1440).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rutgers Preparatory School</span> High school in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States

Rutgers Preparatory School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school established in 1766. The school educates students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, located on a 41-acre (0.17 km2) campus along the banks of the Delaware and Raritan Canal in the Somerset section of Franklin Township, in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Established in 1766, Rutgers Preparatory School is the oldest independent school in the state of New Jersey and the 16th-oldest in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weston Rhyn</span> Human settlement in England

Weston Rhyn is a large village and civil parish in Shropshire, England. It lies between the towns of Chirk, in Wales, and Oswestry, in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Martin's, Shropshire</span> Village and civil parish in Shropshire, England

St Martin's is a village and civil parish in Shropshire, England, just north of Oswestry and east of Chirk, Wales on the England–Wales border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preparatory school (United Kingdom)</span> In the UK, school preparing children for secondary level

A preparatory school in the United Kingdom is a fee-charging private primary school that caters for children up to approximately the age of 13. The term "preparatory school" is used as it prepares the children for the Common Entrance Examination in order to secure a place at an independent secondary school, typically one of the English public schools. They are also preferred by some parents in the hope of getting their child into a state selective grammar school. Most prep schools are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, which is overseen by Ofsted on behalf of the Department for Education.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls</span> Independent day and boarding school in Monmouth, Wales

Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls is an independent school in Monmouth, Wales. The school was established by the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers in 1892, and continues to enjoy their support.

Royal High School Bath is an independent day and boarding school for girls and in the city of Bath, Somerset, England, catering for up to 650 pupils and part of the Girls' Day School Trust. The school is on Lansdown Road, just outside Bath city centre, and has boarding facilities for about 150 girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moreton Bay College</span> Independent, single-sex, day school in Manly West, Queensland, Australia

Moreton Bay College is an independent Uniting Church, day school for girls, located in Manly West, an outer suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Established in 1901 as the Moreton Bay Girls' High School, by Alice J. Alison Greene and her sister Anne, the college currently caters for approximately 1,257 students from Preschool to Year 12.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanstead College</span> Independent, day and boarding, school in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada

Stanstead College is an English-language independent boarding school in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada, for boys and girls in Grades 7 through 12. The school is located on a 600-acre (2.4 km2) campus in Quebec's Eastern Townships – just north of the Canada–United States border – and enrolls approximately 265 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Packwood Haugh School</span> School in near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

Packwood Haugh School is a co-educational private preparatory school for pupils from the ages of 4 to 13, offering places for both day and boarding pupils. It is located in Ruyton-XI-Towns, midway between Oswestry and Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England. Fees are around £6 000 a term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Swithun's School, Winchester</span> School in Winchester, Hampshire, England

St Swithun's School is an independent day, weekly and full-boarding school for girls in Winchester, Hampshire. It is named after Saint Swithun, a Bishop of Winchester and patron saint of Winchester Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adcote School</span> School in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England

Adcote School is a non-selective independent day and boarding school for girls, located in the village of Little Ness, 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The school was founded in 1907, and is set in a Grade I listed country house built in 1879 for Rebecca Darby, the widow of Alfred Darby I (1807–52) and a great niece of Abraham Darby. The Darbys were the iron-master family who built Ironbridge. The school has a Junior School that takes girls aged 7 to 11, a Senior School for girls aged 11 to 16 and a Sixth Form taking girls from 16 to 19.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Aubyns School</span> Preparatory day and boarding school in Brighton, East Sussex, England

St. Aubyns School was a boys' preparatory school in Rottingdean, East Sussex, England, which in its final years became co-educational and taught children of both sexes between the ages of three and thirteen. The school was founded in 1895, taking over the premises of another school which had been founded in the 18th century by Thomas Hooker, the local vicar who was also reputedly a lookout for the local smugglers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queen Anne's School</span> Private boarding and day school in Caversham, Reading, Berkshire, England

Queen Anne's School is a private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18, situated in the suburb of Caversham just north of the River Thames and Reading town centre and occupying a 35-acre (14 ha) campus. There are around 450 pupils. Nearly half are boarders. Some stay seven nights a week; others stay during the working week or two, three or four nights a week. Saturday morning lessons were replaced in 2009 by a programme of optional sport, hobbies and extended learning activities, including rowing, horse riding, textiles and first aid. The school awards scholarships in academic subjects, sport, music, art and drama at ages 11 and 13 and at sixth form entry.

Kent College is an independent day and boarding school from 3-18. Forest Explorers Nursery is for girls and boys from rising 3 years, boys can join Reception Class and Year 1, and from September 2023 Year 2 as the Prep School becomes a co-ed school. The Senior School and Sixth Form are girls only from 11-18.

St. Martin's School 3-16 Learning Community is a mixed all-through school situated in St. Martin's, near Oswestry in the county of Shropshire, England. The school educates students from the ages of 3–16.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvington School</span> Prep school for girls in London, England

Harvington Prep Schooland Nursery is an independent school in Ealing, West London. Founded in 1890 as a kindergarten called Heidelberg College, the school was renamed Harvington College during World War I. For much of its history, it operated as a private girls' school for ages three to eighteen, with boys included at nursery, and occupied three modernised Victorian houses on Castlebar Road. In 2010, Harvington School closed its senior school, focusing instead on its preparatory school. Most recently, it has been co-educational up to Year 2, with girls continuing through Year 6. In April 2022, Harvington Prep announced that it would merge with Durston House, a neighbouring boys' school, to form a single co-educational school in September 2023.

References

  1. ↑ "First Steps Nursery | Moreton Hall School". www.moretonhallschool.com. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Welcome to Oswestry". Oswestry.com. 18 January 2001. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  3. ↑ "Michael Charlesworth". The Daily Telegraph. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  4. ↑ "Michael Charlesworth". 5 June 2008. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  5. ↑ Charlesworth, Michael (2003). The Story of Moreton Hall. Shrewsbury: Quiller Publishing Ltd. ISBN   1-904057-35-7.
  6. ↑ Edwardes, Evan (1930). "Byr Hanes am Blwyf Nantcwnlle" [A Short History of the Parish of Nantcwnlle]. Cambrian News. Aberystwyth. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  7. ↑ "An Independent Day and Boarding School in Shropshire for Girls and Boys from 0–18". Oswestry School. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  8. ↑ "British sculpture". Ilovefiguresculpture.com. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  9. ↑ "Moreton Hall Educational Trust Limited of SY11 3EW in Weston Rhyn Oswestry". Companiesintheuk.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  10. ↑ "Moreton Hall". Companies House. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
  11. ↑ "Welcome to Moreton Hall Prep". Moreton Hall School. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  12. ↑ "First Steps Nursery at Moreton Hall School Shropshire". Moreton Hall School. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  13. ↑ "Principal's Welcome". Moreton Hall School.
  14. ↑ "Staff List". Moreton Hall School. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  15. ↑ CEM Centre. "BaselineTest Contents". Midyisproject.org. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  16. ↑ "ESAA English Schools Cross Country Cup Final 2010". English Schools' Athletic Association. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  17. ↑ "Womens organisations – women working for women". Business and Professional Women UK. 31 August 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  18. ↑ 4B Media. "Awards". The Prayer Book Society. Retrieved 18 February 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ↑ "Introducing Moreton Enterprises". Moreton Hall School. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  20. ↑ "Moreton's misses are a surefire hit". Shropshire Magazine. March 2009. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  21. ↑ "Moreton Hall School". Independent Schools Inspectorate. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  22. ↑ "Dame Linda Dobbs". 100 Great Black Britons. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  23. ↑ "Thea Musgrave, composer". Theamusgrave.com. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  24. ↑ "Centenary Old Moretonian Reunion". Moreton Hall School. 16 June 2014. Archived from the original on 31 January 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.