Cokethorpe School Explained

Cokethorpe School
Motto:Inopiam Ingenio Pensant
Established:1957
Gender:Boys until 1992
Coeducational from 1992
Lower Age:4
Upper Age:18
Enrolment:about 660
Head Label:Headmaster
Head:Damian Ettinger
Chair Label:Chairman of Governors
Chair:John Bennett
Free Label 1:Former Pupils
Free 1:The Cokethorpe Society
Houses:Senior School: Feilden, Gascoigne, Harcourt, Queen Anne, Swift, Lower House and Vanbrugh.Prep School: Baker, Gwyn, Lockwood and Symonds.[1]
Colours:Navy blue and gold
Publication:The Ocellus- The termly newsletter & The SHEDule- The list of the academic year's event
Free Label 2:Setting
Free 2:Rural (150 acres)
Country:England
Postcode:OX29 7PU

Cokethorpe School is a private day school in Witney, West Oxfordshire. The school was found in 1957 by Francis Brown.[2] It is a member of HMC, IAPS, and The Society of Heads. The school has approximately 660 students from age 4 to 18.

History

The country house was used by Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt.[3] When Major Percy Henry Guy Feilden and his wife, Dorothy Louisa Brand, moved there in 1908, they undertook extensive renovations.[4] He died on 25 March 1944 and was buried there.[5] His son, Major-General Randle Guy Feilden, who was later knighted, was his successor. In 1957, it was left with part of the grounds to Francis Brown, who opened the school as a secondary boys' boarding school with 14 pupils. In about 1960 Yarnton Manor was used as a dormitory of the school.[6] In 1963, a charitable trust was formed, and in 1966, the school buildings and grounds were sold to the school trustees.[2] [3]

The school is a joint Church of England and Roman Catholic foundation.[7] The chapel is on the golf course on the school grounds. It is the former parish church of Hardwick and was restored and extended in 1973.

In 1985, the roof of the northwest wing was studied while the building was being repaired.[8] In 1986 work began on the construction of further buildings. The School started admitting girls in 1992 and opened a Prep School in 1994. The boarding facility was closed in 2003.

Facilities

The school runs out of an 18th-century Grade II* listed Queen Anne style country house. The grounds include a chapel, rugby/football pitches, and astro pitches. A carved ‘giant’ peacock stands at the central crossroads within the school grounds. Cokethorpe has a strong sporting tradition with students playing national age group rugby and England women's hockey.

Notable former pupils

References

51.753°N -1.465°W

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Welcome from the Head of Sixth Form.
  2. Book: Crossley . Alan . Currie . C.R.J. (eds.) . Baggs . A.P. . Chance . Eleanor . Colvin . Christina . Day . C.J. . Selwyn . Nesta . Townley . Simon C. . 1996 . A History of the County of Oxford . 13: Bampton Hundred (Part One) . 978-0-19722-790-9 . 110–118 . 27 January 2012.
  3. Web site: Cokethorpe School, Oxfordshire . Venues . Remotegoat . https://archive.today/20130421061304/http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/venue_view.php?uid=27312 . dead . 21 April 2013 . 27 January 2012 .
  4. Web site: People of Headington: Katharine Feilden . Headington, Oxford . Stephanie Jenkins . 3 January 2012 . 27 January 2012.
  5. Web site: Jeffery . Zoe . Percy Henry Guy Feilden (b. – 1944) . Records . Geni . 27 January 2012.
  6. Book: Crossley . Alan . Elrington . C.R. (eds.) . Christopher Elrington . Baggs . A.P. . Blair . W.J. . Chance . Eleanor . Colvin . Christina . Cooper . Janet . Day . C.J. . Selwyn . Nesta . Townley . Simon C. . 1990 . A History of the County of Oxford . 12: Wootton Hundred (South) including Woodstock . . 978-0-19722-774-9 . 475–478 . 3 February 2012.
  7. Web site: Pastoral Care . Cokethorpe School . 12 October 2014.
  8. Steane . John . Cokethorpe Park (PRN 11202 SP 37100620) . The Newsletter of the Council for British Archaeology Regional Group 9 (Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire) . 16 . The Council for British Archaeology . 1986 . PDF . 3 February 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131002154356/http://www.cba-southmidlands.org.uk/CBA%20SMA/SMA%201986.PDF . 2 October 2013 . dead.