Established | 1924 |
---|---|
Type | Independent school |
Location |
Eartham Chichester West Sussex PO18 0LR England 50°52′31″N 0°40′00″W / 50.87526°N 0.66667°WCoordinates: 50°52′31″N 0°40′00″W / 50.87526°N 0.66667°W |
Local authority | West Sussex |
DfE URN | 126130 |
Students | 140 (in 2016) |
Gender | Coeducational |
Ages | 2–13 |
Website | www |
Great Ballard School is a co-educational independent school for children aged 2 to 13 years. It was founded in 1924 and set up at its current location in Eartham, near Chichester, West Sussex, in 1961. The school offers boarding on a flexible basis for both boys and girls. The headmaster is Richard Evans.
In order to be enrolled, prospective students must go through an interview and a written test before being accepted. For the 2015 school year, the enrollment costs were 3,000-10,800 pound sterling annually, along with optional weekly boarding costing 12,975 pounds sterling.
The school's main building, Eartham House, was originally built in 1800 and was occupied by the poet William Hayley. The house was subsequently purchased by William Huskisson, a prominent nineteenth-century politician who was a member of parliament for Chichester and served in the governments of Lord Liverpool and the Duke of Wellington. Huskisson, despite his high-profile political career, is best remembered for the tragic manner of his death – he was run over by George Stephenson's locomotive engine The Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool to Manchester railway line in 1830.
Eartham House was entirely rebuilt in 1905 by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, but some Regency decorations and fireplaces are still retained in one room. The house was listed as a Grade II listed building by English Heritage in 1958.
Since its founding, the school has had many locations, including the original location at New Milton Hampshire, until the Second World War, when it was relocated in Dorset and then Stowell Park Gloucestershire till 1947. For a short time it was located at Cordwalles, Camberley, in Surrey, where the Queen had carried out her ATS training till fire forced a temporary return to Stowell Park. After repairs the school remained in Camberley till moving to its current location in 1961 because the nature of the surroundings had become more urbanised.