St Mary's School was a private day and boarding girls' school located in Wantage, Oxfordshire, England. In 2007 it merged with Heathfield School to become Heathfield St Mary's School (later reverted to Heathfield) and the Wantage site was closed.
The Reverend William John Butler became Vicar of Wantage on 1 January 1847. His main aims were, first, to revive the religious life in England and second, to improve education. He hoped to achieve these aims by setting up an order of teaching sisters, but he faced many disappointments and spent 25 years trying to improve various day schools in the parish before St Mary's School was founded in 1873.
Together with its sister school, the School of St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon, St Mary's was run by the sisters of the Community of St Mary the Virgin and was based in the Queen Anne house on Newbury Street. Sister Ellen was the first Sister-in-Charge and Sister Juliana succeeded her in 1887. Sister Juliana had studied at Cambridge and set a high standard for the girls, entering them for the Oxford and Cambridge local examinations.
Sister Annie Louisa joined the school in 1898 and started a guide movement called Scout Patrols in 1899 before Boy Scouts had even begun.[citation needed] She succeeded Sister Juliana as Headmistress in 1903. Sister Annie Louisa was responsible for the chief structural improvements at St Mary's including a science wing and the conversion of an old barn into a gymnasium. By the time Sister Annie Louisa left in 1919, St Mary's was recognised as a “public school with an unusually high standard of scholarship”.[citation needed]
In 2005 the buildings were purchased for around £15m by the property developer Anton Bilton and his company, Raven Mount. The transaction was said to be necessary to increase the size of the school and modernise facilities. However, in 2006 it was announced that the school would be merging with the Heathfield School in Ascot, to form a new school, Heathfield St Mary's and the Wantage site was closed at the end of the summer term 2007.
Notable alumnaeedit
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(August 2021)
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This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources St Mary s School Wantage news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2011 Learn how and when to remove this message St Mary s School was a private day and boarding girls school located in Wantage Oxfordshire England In 2007 it merged with Heathfield School to become Heathfield St Mary s School later reverted to Heathfield and the Wantage site was closed St Mary s SchoolAddress24 28 Newbury StreetWantage Oxfordshire OX12 8BZEnglandInformationTypePrivate day and boarding schoolReligious affiliation s Church of EnglandEstablished1873FounderWilliam J ButlerClosed2007 merged Head teacherSue SowdenGenderGirlsAge11 to 18 It was affiliated with the Church of England and had close ties with its founding order the Community of St Mary the Virgin It was predominantly a boarding school 1 Contents 1 History 2 Notable alumnae 3 References 4 External linksHistory editThe Reverend William John Butler became Vicar of Wantage on 1 January 1847 His main aims were first to revive the religious life in England and second to improve education He hoped to achieve these aims by setting up an order of teaching sisters but he faced many disappointments and spent 25 years trying to improve various day schools in the parish before St Mary s School was founded in 1873 Together with its sister school the School of St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon St Mary s was run by the sisters of the Community of St Mary the Virgin and was based in the Queen Anne house on Newbury Street Sister Ellen was the first Sister in Charge and Sister Juliana succeeded her in 1887 Sister Juliana had studied at Cambridge and set a high standard for the girls entering them for the Oxford and Cambridge local examinations Sister Annie Louisa joined the school in 1898 and started a guide movement called Scout Patrols in 1899 before Boy Scouts had even begun citation needed She succeeded Sister Juliana as Headmistress in 1903 Sister Annie Louisa was responsible for the chief structural improvements at St Mary s including a science wing and the conversion of an old barn into a gymnasium By the time Sister Annie Louisa left in 1919 St Mary s was recognised as a public school with an unusually high standard of scholarship citation needed In 2005 the buildings were purchased for around 15m by the property developer Anton Bilton and his company Raven Mount The transaction was said to be necessary to increase the size of the school and modernise facilities However in 2006 it was announced that the school would be merging with the Heathfield School in Ascot to form a new school Heathfield St Mary s and the Wantage site was closed at the end of the summer term 2007 Notable alumnae editThis article s list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia s verifiability policy Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article AND are alumni or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations August 2021 Serena Armstrong Jones Countess of Snowdon Harriet Bridgeman Viscountess Bridgeman founder of Bridgeman Art Library Lady Moyra Campbell Diana Churchill actress Susannah Constantine fashion advisor citation needed and author Margaret Cooper 1918 2016 cryptographer 2 Flora de Lisle Lady Barrowden interior designer Flora Fraser 21st Lady Saltoun Hon Victoria Glendinning novelist and broadcaster Lucinda Green three day eventer Natalia Grosvenor Duchess of Westminster Hon Daphne Guinness Alexandra Hamilton Duchess of Abercorn Dame Ruth Railton music director and conductor 3 Phyllis Hartnoll poet Kara Louise Horne Big Brother 8 contestant Davina Ingrams 18th Baroness Darcy de Knayth Judith Keppel quiz panellist first million pound winner of Who wants to be a millionaire Candida Lycett Green writer Tessa Montgomery Viscountess Montgomery of Alamein Emma Nicholson Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne politician 4 Lady Henrietta Spencer Churchill interior designer Lady Helen Taylor Susan Travers Dame Jane Whiteley Judith Wilcox Baroness WilcoxReferences edit Pastoral Care Archived from the original on 6 December 2004 Margaret Cooper Wren at Bletchley Park obituary The Telegraph 30 August 2016 Retrieved 30 October 2017 Obituary Dame Ruth Railton TheGuardian com March 2001 About Emma Emma Nicholson UK External links editSchool Website via web archive org Schools Guide 2006 Tatler Archived from the original on 27 September 2007 The Merge Forum 51 35 14 N 1 25 32 W 51 58722 N 1 42556 W 51 58722 1 42556 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title St Mary 27s School Wantage amp oldid 1165051213, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
