- Malvern St James
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Malvern St James 
Established 1893 as Malvern Girls College. 2006 as Malvern St James Type independent day and boarding school Religion non denominational Headmistress Patricia Woodhouse BMus(Hons) Deputy Headteacher Sarah Musgrave Chair Hannah Plant Founder Miss Greenslade and Miss Poulton (Malvern Girls College) Location Avenue Road
Malvern
Worcestershire
WR14 3BA
EnglandStudents approx.360 Gender girls Ages 4–18 Last Ofsted inspection 13 November 2009 Website malvernstjames.co.uk Coordinates: 52°06′37″N 2°19′03″W / 52.11035°N 2.31756°W
Malvern St James is a leading independent school for girls in Great Malvern, Worcestershire, England. Renamed in 2006 from Malvern Girls' College (founded 1893) following a succession of amalgamations with other independent schools for girls in the Malvern area, it continues to occupy the same campus as the former college, which includes as its main building, the former Imperial Hotel, which had been taken over for use as a school by Malvern Girls' College in 1919. It occupies much of the land between the two parallel streets of Barnards Green Road and Avenue Road and is located conveniently close to Great Malvern railway station. The school comprises three sections: a Junior School for girls aged 4 – 11, a Senior School for girls aged 11 – 18, and a Sixth Form.[1] Current enrollment is around 360 of which about 60% are boarders who are accepted from the age of 7.[2] A November 2009 Ofsted inspection rated the school as Grade 1 (Outstanding).[2]
Contents
History
Malvern Girls' College was founded in 1893 by Miss Greenslade and Miss Poulton, and was first located in College Road. In 1919 they acquired the Imperial Hotel and in 1934, a major extension including an assembly hall was built. Further extensions included the Hatfield building in the 1960s, the Edinburgh Dome in 1977 and The Science Education Centre in 1998.[3] St James's School was founded in the south of England by Alice and Katrine Baird in 1896 and moved to the large mansion of Lady Howard de Walden in West Malvern in 1902.[3] The Abbey School was founded in Blockley, Worcestershire and moved to Malvern in 1897 and to Malvern Wells in 1908.[3] In 1979 the two schools merged on the West Malvern campus of St James, and the resulting school was named St James's and The Abbey. In 1994 Lawnside School which was founded at beginning of the nineteenth century merged with St James's and The Abbey School, and the school was renamed St James.[3] In 2006, Malvern Girls College merged with St James's School, and was refounded as Malvern St James (MSJ).[3]
Architecture
The Imperial Hotel
Main building - the former Imperial Hotel
Following the collapse of the spa industry, many of the hotels were acquired for use as private boarding schools, and education became the basis of Malvern's economy; the Imperial Hotel was purchased by the school in 1919.[4] The area was well suited for schools due to its established attractive environment and the possibility of children being able to travel unaccompanied with their trunks by rail to their boarding schools near the stations. The former hotel is directly opposite Great Malvern railway station, with its dedicated (now derelict) tunnel to the basement of the building, which is clearly visible from both platforms of the station. The red brick and stone Imperial Hotel which had been the largest in Malvern during the town's heyday as a spa in the second half of the 19th century, is still one of the largest buildings in Malvern and was built in 1860 by the architect E. W. Elmslie who also designed the Great Malvern railway station, the Council House, and The Grove in Avenue Road in 1867, originally to be his private residence which in 1927 became part of the Lawnside School for girls. The Imperial was the first hotel to be lit by incandescent gas. It was equipped with all types of baths and brine was brought specially by rail from Droitwich. In 1934 the building was extended with the addition of the York Hall, nd officially opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.[4]
The Edinburgh Dome
The Edinburgh DomeThe school campus was host to one of the most interesting sports halls ever constructed: The Edinburgh Dome, so named as it was unveiled by the Duke of Edinburgh, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. It consists of a round, green, balloon-shaped building, containing squash courts, a gym area and a large games area, all surrounded by a moat. Based on an innovative roof construction by Dr Dante Bini, the Bini Dome (or Parashell) at Malvern St James is unique in the United Kingdom. It was built in 1977 by architect Michael Godwin, and consultant engineer John Faber and opened in 1978. On the advice of English Heritage it has been designated a Grade II listed building.[5]
Notable Alumnae
Malvern Girls College
- Mary Hayley Bell, playwright and author of Whistle Down The Wind
- Barbara Cartland, novelist
- Jane Davidson, Minister for the Environment, Sustainability and Housing
- Imogen Edwards-Jones, author of 'Hotel Babylon'.
- Peggy Jay, Politician and campaigner
- Anna Kavan, author
- Elizabeth Lane, first female high court judge
- Tania Long, WWII journalist
- Caroline Lucas, MP, leader of the Green Party
- Frances Lynn, journalist
- Thandie Newton, actress
- Donna Ong, artist
- Sarah Staniforth, Director of the National Trust Properties[6]
- Joanna Van Gyseghem, actress
- Aminatta Forna, writer and activist
- Mohni Mohsin, novelist
Lawnside
Phyllida Lloyd, the Director of the runaway hit "Mamma Mia"
St James, West Malvern
- Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester,
- The daughters of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell, the founders of the Scout and Guide movements were pupils at St James's.
- Clara Furse The Chief Executive (retired) of the London Stock Exchange.
- Penelope Leach, child care expert.
References
- ^ Malvern St James Retrieved 12 January 2010
- ^ a b Ofsted (PDF) Retrieved 12 January 2010
- ^ a b c d e Malvern St james - School History Retrieved 12 January 2010
- ^ a b Smith, Brian S. (1964). A History of Malvern. Leicester University Press, reprinted by 1978 by Alan Sutton. p. 256. ISBN 0904387313.
- ^ Hogg, Simon, (2009) Grade II listing for Edinburgh Sport Dome, Malvern Architects Journal Retrieved 12 January 2010
- ^ Courtauld Institute of Art Retrieved 12 January 2010
Further reading
- Dixey, Mary; Stewart, Duseline (1996). The wonderful world of Lawnside: the history of a Malvern School c.1852-1994. Malvern: Lawnside Old Girls' Association.
- Hurle, Pamela (1993). Malvern Girls' College - A Centenary History. Chichester: Philimore & Co. Ltd.. ISBN 0850338530.
- Blumenau, Ralph (1965). A History of Malvern College. MACMILLAN; ST.MARTIN'S P. ASIN: B0000CMFA4
External links
See also
List of independent schools in the United Kingdom
Categories:- Boarding schools in Worcestershire
- Educational institutions established in 1893
- Girls' schools in Worcestershire
- Independent schools in Worcestershire
- Malvern, Worcestershire
- 1893 establishments in England
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