Farnborough Hill
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| Motto | Labor in vester Domino non est inanis (Work in the Lord's name is not in vain) also "Educating the whole person" |
|---|---|
| Established | 1889 |
| Type | Independent day school |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Headmistress | Mrs Alexandra Neil |
| Location |
Farnborough Hampshire GU14 8AT England Coordinates: 51°18′03″N 0°45′01″W / 51.3008°N 0.7504°W |
| DfE number | 850/6020 |
| DfE URN | 116517 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| Students | approx. 550 |
| Gender | Girls |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Colours | Green and Purple |
| Website | Farnborough Hill |
Farnborough Hill is a Roman Catholic independent day school for 550 girls aged 11–18 located on the Hampshire, Surrey and Berkshire border. The school was established by the Religious of Christian Education order of nuns in 1889 and moved to the current site when the order purchased the house and grounds in 1927. Now set in an expansive park including Grade I Listed Buildings the school prides itself on "Educating the whole person" through offering teaching excellence across the fields.
Thomas Longman, the publisher, began building the house at Farnborough Hill in 1860.
The exiled Empress Eugénie, widow of Emperor Napoleon III of France, later bought and expanded the house in 1880. The Napoleonic bee symbol can be seen in the internal and external decor of the building and is also present on the school badge. The Empress bought other land in Farnborough at around the same time and founded St Michael's Abbey as a mausoleum for her husband's body (relocated from its initial burial place in Chislehurst) and that of her recently deceased son the Prince Imperial who had died fighting with British Forces in the Boer War. The Empress was close friends with Queen Victoria and later become godmother to Victoria Eugénie of Battenberg, daughter of Princess Beatrice. The Epress died, age 94, in 1920.
The history of the school itself began in 1889 when the Religious of Christian Education established a convent boarding school in Farnborough nearby the hill on which the current school stands called Hillside Convent College and a day school called St Mary's. With the outbreak of war in 1915 the school buildings was commandeered resulting in the temporary closure of both schools. The religious community and Hillside school relocated to Sycamore House (also known as The Sycamores) which was expanded in 1916 to accommodate the reopened day school. At the end of the war the original school buildings were renovated and the school returned to Hillside Convent College in 1921, while the religious community remained at The Sycamores. The school continued to grow and Mother Roantree continued to search for alternative accommodation.
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