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{{short description|Public school in Bath, Somerset, England}}
{| class="toccolours" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; width: 20em; font-size: 90%; clear: right" cellspacing="3"
{{Use British English|date=December 2014}}
|-
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2021}}
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: larger;" bgcolor="#4682B4"|'''Prior Park College'''
{{Infobox school
|-
| name = Prior Park College
| colspan="2" style="padding: 1em 0; text-align: center;" | [[Image:PPC Logo.gif]]
| logo = Prior Park College logo.svg
|-
| image = Prior_Park_College.jpg
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: larger;" bgcolor="#87CEEB"|'''History'''
| motto = {{Langx|la|Deo Duce Deo Luce}}
|-
| motto_translation = God our Guide, God our Light
|'''Motto'''
| established = {{Start date and age|1830}}
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | ''Deo Duce Deo Luce''
| closed =
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| type = [[Public school (United Kingdom)|Public school]] <br />[[Independent school]] <br />Day, full boarding & weekly boarding school
|'''Established'''
| religious_affiliation = [[Christianity]]
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | [[1830]]
| headmaster = Ben Horan
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| chair_label =
|'''Founder'''
| chair = A M H King
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | [[Congregation of Christian Brothers]]
| founder = [[Congregation of Christian Brothers]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| address = Ralph Allen Drive
|-
| city = [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: larger;" bgcolor="#4682B4"|'''People'''
| county = [[Somerset]]
|-
| postcode = BA2 5AH
|'''Headmaster'''
| country = England
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | Dr. Giles Mercer KSG, FRSA
| coordinates = {{Coord|51.3644|-2.3431|type:edu_region:GB-BAS_dim:100|format=dec|display=inline,title}}
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| local_authority =
|'''Chairman'''
| urn = 109347
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | Sister Jane Livesey CJ, MA
| ofsted =
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| staff =
|'''Chaplain'''
| enrolment = 624
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | Father Malcolm Smeaton
| gender = Mixed
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| lower_age = 11
|-
| upper_age = 18
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: larger;" bgcolor="#87CEEB"|'''Miscellaneous'''
| houses = {{Hlist|Allen|Arundell|Burton|Clifford|English|Fielding|Roche|St Mary's|Baines|Brownlow}}
|-
| colours = Navy and Cyan {{Color box|Navy}}{{Color box|Cyan}}
|'''School type'''
| publication = Prior Knowledge
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | [[Independent school (UK)|Independent]]
| alumni = [[#Notable alumni|Old Priorites]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
| website = {{Official URL}}
|'''Location'''
}}
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[Somerset]], [[UK]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Affiliations'''
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | [[Prior Park Preparatory School]] <br> The Paragon School
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Enrollment'''
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | circa. 550 students
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Colours'''
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | Steel Blue and [[Sky blue|Sky Blue]]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center; font-size: larger;" bgcolor="#4682B4"|'''Links'''
|-
|'''Homepage of College'''
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | [http://www.priorparkschools.co.uk/ppcollege/welcome/ Prior Park College]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Homepage of Affiliated Schools'''
|style="padding-right: 1em;" | [http://www.priorparkschools.co.uk/ Prior Park Schools]
|- style="vertical-align: top;"
|}


'''Prior Park College''' is a [[Mixed-sex education|co-educational]] [[Public school (United Kingdom)|public school]] for both [[boarding school|boarding]] and [[day school|day]] pupils in [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], south-west England. Its main building, [[Prior Park]], stands on a hill overlooking the city and is a Grade I [[listed building]]. The adjoining {{convert|57|acre|ha|0|adj=on}} [[Prior Park Landscape Garden]] was donated by Prior Park to the [[National Trust]].
'''Prior Park College''' is a Catholic co-educational boarding school.

It is situated on a hill overlooking [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], [[England]]. The adjoining {{convert|57|acre|ha|0|lk=on}} [[Prior Park Landscape Garden]], once part of the school site, is now owned by the [[National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty|National Trust]].
The school's parent body is Prior Park Schools, which also runs the Paragon Junior School (Bath) and Prior Park School Gibraltar.


==Overview==
==Overview==
Prior Park College provides co-educational schooling for students aged 11 to 18. Founded in 1830 to be England's first [[Catholic Church in England and Wales|Catholic]] university, it was established by the [[Benedictine]], [[Peter Augustine Baines|Bishop Baines]], as a seminary. The school kept its links with the Catholic diocese – which meant pupils were required to study Religious Education to [[GCSE]] level – until 2024. By that time the proportion of students of the Catholic faith had decreased to 18%, and the school is now described as Christian.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-09-30 |title=Prior Park College becomes Christian school as it cuts Catholic links |url=https://www.bathecho.co.uk/news/education/prior-park-christian-school-cuts-catholic-links-108264/ |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=Bath Echo |language=en-GB}}</ref>
Originally intended to be England's first Catholic university, Prior Park College was founded in [[1830]], and since then has been a [[Roman Catholic]] school. It was established by the [[Irish Christian Brothers]], and continues to provide co-educational schooling for boys and girls aged eleven to eighteen in the Catholic tradition and ecumenical spirit. The College is the largest fully co-educational Catholic Independent boarding and day school in Britain.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}


In July 2009, Giles Mercer retired. He had been head teacher since 1996, and with his previous position as head of [[Stonyhurst College]], he became the "longest serving Catholic senior school headmaster in England".<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Pupils-parents-staff-honour-longest-serving-headteacher/story-11338957-detail/story.html | title=Pupils, parents and staff honour longest-serving headteacher | newspaper=[[Bath Chronicle]] | date=8 July 2009 | access-date=6 November 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721103412/http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Pupils-parents-staff-honour-longest-serving-headteacher/story-11338957-detail/story.html | archive-date=21 July 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref> His successor was James Murphy-O'Connor, nephew of former Prior Park pupil [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Cormac Murphy-O'Connor]]. Since 2019, Ben Horan has been the headmaster,<ref>{{cite web |title=Appointment of new Head |url=https://www.priorparkcollege.com/news-events/news/appointment-of-new-head |publisher=Prior Park Schools}}</ref> after Murphy-O'Connor took up a new position at the [[Monmouth Schools]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Monmouth Schools Appoint New First Principal |url=https://rcadc.org/monmouth-schools-principal/ |publisher=Archdiocese of Cardiff}}</ref>
Prior is affiliated with [[Prior Park Preparatory School]] which is located in [[Cricklade]], [[Wiltshire]], and, as of [[2006]], the [[Paragon School]], [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]].


The school is part of the Prior Park Foundation which includes the Paragon Junior School, also in Bath, and Prior Park School Gibraltar, in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Prior Foundation |url=https://www.thepriorfoundation.com |access-date=19 May 2023}}</ref>
In 2006 pupils achieved 66% A & B grades with almost a quarter of the year group gaining 3 or more A grades at [[Advanced Level (UK)|A-Level]].{{Fact|date=November 2007}} At GCSE 56% of all grades were at A* & A with over a third of pupils gaining 9 or more A* & A grades.{{Fact|date=November 2007}}

==Architecture==
{{Main|Prior Park}}
The [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] hillside mansion housing Prior Park College was designed and built by [[John Wood, the Elder]] in 1742. He was commissioned by [[Ralph Allen]]: "To see all Bath, and for all Bath to see".<ref name="postmus">{{cite web|url=http://www.bathpostalmuseum.co.uk/explore/biographies/ralphallen.html |title=Ralph Allen Biography |publisher=Bath Postal Museum |access-date=21 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607024648/http://www.bathpostalmuseum.co.uk/explore/biographies/ralphallen.html |archive-date=7 June 2009 }}</ref> The mansion was designated as [[Grade I listed]] in 1950.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England entry|num=1394453|desc=Prior Park College|access-date=27 July 2015}}</ref>

One wing of the mansion includes a chapel of our Lady of the Snows, built in 1863 by [[Joseph John Scoles|Scoles]] and [[Ignatius Scoles|Son]], which is also Grade I listed; there is also a chapel in the original house.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England entry|num=1394459|desc=Church of St Paul, with West Wing|access-date=27 July 2015|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> The chapel is unfinished, with the pillars at the back remaining unsculpted as they were in 1863.

==Landscape architecture==
{{Main|Prior Park Landscape Garden}}
Prior Park Landscape Garden was laid out between 1734 and 1744, with the Allens benefiting during the first phase from the advice of their friend [[Alexander Pope]]. The [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] bridge and the lake that it spans were added in 1755; the final phase with the green slopes from the house to the lake is thought to have been planned by [[Capability Brown]] in the 1760s.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5001638360|title=Green Priorities for the National Trust at Prior Park|publisher=|access-date=}}{{dl|date=July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-priorpark/|title=Prior Park Landscape Garden|publisher=National Trust|access-date=7 April 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090413011503/http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-priorpark/|archive-date=13 April 2009}}</ref> The garden is now owned by the National Trust.


==History==
==History==
In 1828, Bishop Baines purchased the mansion for £22,000 and used it as a seminary named the Sacred Heart College.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.cliftondiocese.com/diocese/a-brief-history/|title = Brief History|access-date = 17 March 2015|website = Diocese of Clifton}}</ref> Renovations were made according to designs by [[Henry Goodridge|H. E. Goodridge]] in 1834. The seminary was closed in 1856 after a fire in 1836 caused extensive damage and subsequent renovation caused financial insolvency. The estate was later bought by [[William Hugh Joseph Clifford|Bishop Clifford]] who founded a Catholic [[grammar school]].<ref name="Parks and Gardens UK">{{cite web|url=http://www.parksandgardens.org/places-and-people/site/2709|publisher=parksandgardens.ac.uk|title=Prior Park, Bath, England|access-date=9 June 2013}}</ref>
The buildings which now house Prior Park College were originally designed and built chiefly by [[John Wood, the Elder]]. He was commissioned to build on the site by [[Ralph Allen]]. It has been designated by [[English Heritage]] as a grade I [[listed building]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Prior Park (Now Prior Park College) | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=443306 | accessdate=2007-11-23}}</ref> The Prior Park Landscape Gardens, now owned by the National Trust, were designed by [[Capability Brown]].


The chapel was designed by [[J. J. Scoles]] in 1844 but not completed until 1863. It followed 18th-century French models such as [[Jean-François-Thérèse Chalgrin|Chalgrin]]'s [[St. Philippe-du-Roule]] in Paris. [[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner]] describes it as "without any doubt the most impressive Chapel interior of its date in the county".<ref>Pevsner N, 1958, ''North Somerset and Bristol'', page 115</ref>
==Refurbishments==
Since 2000 a major refurbishment has been undertaken of the indoor swimming pool, a new ICT centre, other classroom extensions and the new Mackintosh Dance Studio which opened in [[September]] [[2006]].


The grammar school closed in 1904 and the estate was occupied by the army during the First World War and by a series of tenants until 1921; the Christian Brothers founded a boys' boarding school in 1924. Prior Park College continues to occupy the main house. In 1993, {{convert|11.3|ha}} of the park and pleasure grounds were acquired by the [[National Trust]] and have been extensively restored.
==Notable Alumni==
* Patrick Barry, Knight of the [[Légion d'honneur]], took part in [[Operation Chariot]] in March [[1942]] <ref>{{cite web | title=Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007 | url=http://www.webalumnus.com/Uploads/30115/Documents/Gossip%20Bowl%2007.pdf | accessdate=2008-03-15}}</ref>
* [[Damian Cronin]], Bath and Scotland rugby player
* [[Christopher Logue|Christopher Logue, CBE]], poet <ref>{{cite web | title=Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007 | url=http://www.webalumnus.com/Uploads/30115/Documents/Gossip%20Bowl%2007.pdf | accessdate=2008-03-15}}</ref>
* Sir [[Ken Macdonald]] QC, [[Director of Public Prosecutions]] of England and Wales (head of the [[Crown Prosecution Service]]) <ref>{{cite web | title=Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007 | url=http://www.webalumnus.com/Uploads/30115/Documents/Gossip%20Bowl%2007.pdf | accessdate=2008-03-15}}</ref>
* Sir [[Cameron Mackintosh]], British theatrical producer (formerly partnered with composer Sir [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]])
* [[Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor]], the [[Archbishop of Westminster]]
* Toby Nowlan, [[BBC Wildlife]] magazine's "Young Environmentalist Journalist of the Year (2006)" <ref>{{cite web | title=Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007 | url=http://www.webalumnus.com/Uploads/30115/Documents/Gossip%20Bowl%2007.pdf | accessdate=2008-03-15}}</ref>
* [[Hugh Scully]], broadcaster
* [[John Aloysius Ward]], former [[Archbishop of Cardiff]]


The mansion has been victim of fire twice. The 1836 event left visible damage to some stonework.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Colvin|first1=Howard|first2=Paul |last2=Mellon|title=A biographical dictionary of British architects, 1600–1840|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2008|edition=4|pages=1143|isbn=978-0-300-12508-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSyaO-MqYoAC&dq=Prior+park+fire+1836&pg=PA1143}}</ref> A 1991 fire gutted the interior, except for parts of the basement;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/craftsmen-restore-country-house-to-former-glory-sculptors-use-delicate-skills-to-recreate-rococo-ceiling-destroyed-by-fire-oliver-gillie-reports-1368134.html|title=Craftsmen restore country house to former glory: Sculptors use delicate skills to recreate rococo ceiling destroyed by fire.|last=Gillie|first=Oliver|date=6 April 1994|work=The Independent|access-date=7 April 2009 | location=London}}</ref> rebuilding took four years and cost about £6 million. Unusually, the blaze started on the top floor, and spread downwards. The school operated in the stables and former servants' quarters during the renovation.<ref name=bathchron-20210516>{{cite news |url=https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/local-news/gallery/day-bath-college-burned-ground-5400349 |title=The day a Bath college burned to the ground - revisiting the Prior Park College fire |last=Elgee |first=Emma |newspaper=Bath Chronicle |date=16 May 2021 |access-date=17 May 2021}}</ref>
==Sports Facilities==
*The Monument field: a National Trust-owned site, but used solely by Prior Park that holds a number of rugby, football, rounders and cricket pitches and squares, as well as a running track.
*The Eliminator: a modern facility capable of hosting two matches at once. There are also tennis courts on the Astro, and rugby 7s training takes place here as well.
*The Netball Courts: four tarmac netball courts.
*The Top Fields: two cricket pitches with immaculately-kept cricket squares. The Top Fields also include three grass hockey pitches as well as an area used for rugby training.
*The Swimming Pool: Recently refurbished indoor swimming pool, originally built at the end of the nineteenth century.
*The Gym: A large indoor area that hosts anything from basketball to badminton.
*The Old Gym: Soon to be refurbished, the old gym provides a weights and conditioning room as well as a warm-up area for the rugby 1st XV. It also provides a happily secluded area for the College's many smokers.
*If additional facilities are ever needed Prior Park College is located within walking distance (10 miles) of the National Lottery-funded Bath University Sports Village, which is the training camp of the England Rugby Union and Netball teams, as well as Bath Rugby Club and the Great Britain Rugby League team.
* "The Vill", as it is known (the Combe Down region of Bath) is provided free of charge by the rest of the world so that Prior Park's students may go and smoke, drink and generally act like semi-normal human beings without being immediately expelled.


==Houses==
==Facilities==
*Within the school, there are four houses for boys and three for girls; three of which are boarding and four are for day-pupils.
*Boarding houses are Allen and Roche for boys, and St. Mary's for girls.
*Day houses are Clifford and Burton for boys, and Fielding and English for girls.
*One further house, Baines accommodates all students in the years seven and eight.
Baines contains several internal houses namely: Garrick, Brownlow, Rice, Moore and Pope, named after previous Prior Park alumni, benefactors and monks.


Prior Park leases The Monument Field from the [[National Trust]]. The field is named after a triangular [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] building with a round tower erected by [[William Warburton|Bishop Warburton]], demolished in 1953;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bacas.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Monument-Field281218.pdf|title=Monument Field, Prior Park, Bath|last=Lunt|first=Tim|date=2018|website=Bath and Counties Archaeological Society|access-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> it had a circular staircase and contained a tablet inscribed in Latin in honour of Ralph Allen.<ref>{{cite book|title=Rambles about Bath, and its neighbourhood|first=James|last=Tunstall|year=1847|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qwHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA170|pages=128}}</ref>
==Trivia==

*Prior Park was used as a location for the 1950 [[David Niven]] film [[The Elusive Pimpernel]], and in the early 1980s for [[Spandau Ballet]]'s promo video for ''She Loved Like Diamond]''. {{Fact|date=April 2008}}
Since 2000, improvements include an indoor swimming pool,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isbi.com/viewschool.asp?school=270-Prior_Park_College#schoolfacilities|title=Prior Park College on www.isbi.com|publisher=Independent, Private, Boarding, Special, Day and International School directory|access-date=5 May 2015}}</ref> an [[Information and communications technology]] centre, and classroom extensions including the Mackintosh Dance Studio and Theatre (2006), the Design Centre (September 2016)<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/New-centre-big-artistic-visions/story-25904024-detail/story.html | title=New art and design centre at Prior park College is full of big artistic visions | newspaper=[[Bath Chronicle]] | date=22 January 2015 | access-date=5 May 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630012801/http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/New-centre-big-artistic-visions/story-25904024-detail/story.html | archive-date=30 June 2015 | url-status=dead }}</ref> and the Bury Sports Centre (April 2015).<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Prior-Park-College-opens-5-million-sports-centre/story-26371498-detail/story.html | title=Prior Park College opens £5 million sports centre | newspaper=[[Bath Chronicle]] | date=22 April 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=May 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> All sports facilities are located on site.
*Prior Park was also notable for the high number of teenage drug users that passed through its doors 1999-2005; thanks to the wealth and/or privilege of most of said users' parents, however, the aforementioned fact remains mystifyingly little-known. It is suspected that a coterie of hand-picked pro-establishment students, or "Giles' Bitches" as they are colloquially known, may be responsible for this media silence; equally, the ratarsed former student writing this might just have a grudge against said bourgeois fuck'oles. I know this won't last; but please, dudes, PLEASE, allow some form of criticism to enliven this entry. This is a fucked-up public school just like all the other public schools in this country, and people need to know what actually goes on...the drugs were all grand, it was the relentless brainwashing I took issue with...

==Former preparatory school==
In 1946 the Congregation of Christian Brothers opened a [[Preparatory school (United Kingdom)|preparatory school]] linked to Prior Park College, at Calcutt Street, [[Cricklade]], Wiltshire. The school's main building was the late-19th century Manor House, with extensive grounds.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1356093|desc=The Manor House|access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref> At first a boarding school for boys, the school admitted day boys in the 1970s. After the Brothers left Bath and Cricklade in 1980, the school was sold and came under lay management but kept its name, Prior Park Preparatory School. Later, girls were admitted, and the school catered for ages 3 to 13, with boarding available from age 7.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/667|title=Prior Park Preparatory School, Cricklade|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Prior Park Prep School|url=http://www.priorparkprep.com/|publisher=Prior Park Educational|access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref> In January 2015 there were 205 pupils.<ref>{{cite web|title=EduBase details for Prior Park Preparatory School|url=http://www.education.gov.uk/edubase/establishment/establishmentdetails.xhtml?urn=126533|publisher=Department for Education|access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref>

Since September 2017, the school is no longer a member of the Prior Park Schools Educational Trust, although it retains strong links with the college. Its name changed to Cricklade Manor Prep and it is one of the Wishford Schools group of preparatory schools.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cricklademanor.com|title=Cricklade Manor Prep|website=cricklademanor.com|access-date=24 January 2018}}</ref>

== Notable alumni ==
{{See also|Category:People educated at Prior Park College}}
* [[Blake (band)|Stephen Bowman]], member of [[Brit Awards|Brit Award]] winning band [[Blake (band)|Blake]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.classicalx.com/2008/09/26/stephen-comes-home-in-glory-after-brit-award|title=Stephen comes home in glory after Brit Award|publisher=classicalx.com|date=26 September 2011|access-date=14 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405180953/http://www.classicalx.com/2008/09/26/stephen-comes-home-in-glory-after-brit-award|archive-date=5 April 2012}}</ref>
* [[Leonard Calderbank]], Catholic priest
* [[Damian Cronin]], Bath and Scotland rugby player<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/cronin-reborn-as-the-demolition-man-1571357.html|title=Cronin reborn as the demolition man|work=The Independent|date=3 February 1995|author=Fairall, Barrie|access-date=25 August 2009|location=London, UK}}</ref>
* [[Billy Drake]], [[Battle of Britain]] fighter pilot
* [[Adam "Nolly" Getgood]], guitarist<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqhSl7vc_Ec|title=Psalm of Lydia Sweeps|website=[[YouTube]]|date=28 January 2008}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref>
* [[Charles Kent (English writer)|Charles Kent]] (1823{{ndash}}1902), poet, biographer and journalist
* [[Peter Levi]], [[University of Oxford]] educator<ref name="Prior Park College">{{cite web|url=http://www.anglo-chinese.com/E/PriorParkCollege.htm|title=Prior Park College|publisher=anglo-chinese.com|access-date=25 August 2009}}</ref>
* [[Christopher Logue]], poet<ref name=Gossip>{{cite web|title=Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007|url=http://www.webalumnus.com/Uploads/30115/Documents/Gossip%20Bowl%2007.pdf|access-date=15 March 2008}}</ref>
* Sir [[Ken Macdonald]] [[Director of Public Prosecutions]] of England and Wales, head of the Crown Prosecution Service<ref name=Gossip/>
* Sir [[Cameron Mackintosh]], British theatrical producer (formerly partnered with composer Sir [[Andrew Lloyd Webber]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cliftondiocese.com/sir-cameron-opens-the-mackintosh-studio-at-prior-park-college|title=Sir Cameron opens the Macintosh Studio at Prior Park College|publisher=cliftondiocese|access-date=25 August 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071211131558/http://www.cliftondiocese.com/sir-cameron-opens-the-mackintosh-studio-at-prior-park-college|archive-date=11 December 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Gabriel Makhlouf]], Governor, Central Bank of Ireland
* [[Cormac Murphy-O'Connor]], Cardinal [[Archbishop of Westminster]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5728972.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814125236/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article5728972.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 August 2011|title=Cardinal Comac Murphy-O'Connor:Recession may be jolt that selfish Britain needs|publisher=[[The Times]]|access-date=25 August 2009|location=London, UK|first1=Alice|last1=Thomson|first2=Rachel|last2=Sylvester|date=14 February 2009}}</ref>
* [[Michael Please]], [[BAFTA]] winning animator<ref>{{cite web|url=http://somerset.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/former-prior-park-students-win-bafta-29343/|title=Former prior park students win bafta|publisher=somerset.greatbritishlife.co.uk|date=14 February 2011|access-date=14 October 2011}}</ref>
* [[John Savage (Nova Scotia politician)|John Patrick Savage]], Canadian politician
* [[Hugh Scully]], broadcaster<ref name="Prior Park College"/>
* [[John Aloysius Ward]], former [[archbishop of Cardiff]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/mar/28/guardianobituaries.religion1|title=The Rt Rev John Ward|work=The Guardian|access-date=25 August 2009|location=London, UK|date=28 March 2007|first=Peter|last=Stanford}}</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
{{Commons category inline}}
*[http://www.priorparkschools.co.uk/ Prior Park College] - Official website
* {{Official website}}
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/education/05/school_tables/secondary_schools/html/800_6001.stm School Results for Prior Park College from BBC News online]
* [https://www.isc.co.uk/schools/england/somerset/bath/prior-park-college/ Profile] at the [[Independent Schools Council|ISC]] website


{{Schools in Somerset}}
{{Schools in Somerset}}
{{Diocese of Clifton}}
{{English and Welsh Catholic Seminaries}}

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[[Category:Independent schools in Somerset]]
[[Category:Private schools in Bath and North East Somerset]]
[[Category:Member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference]]
[[Category:Schools in Bath]]
[[Category:Members of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1830]]
[[Category:Educational institutions established in 1830]]
[[Category:Catholic boarding schools]]
[[Category:Boarding schools in England]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Somerset]]
[[Category:Grade I listed buildings in Bath, Somerset]]
[[Category:Grade I listed educational buildings]]
[[Category:Churches in Bath, Somerset]]
[[Category:1830 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Schools in Bath, Somerset]]
[[Category:Former Catholic seminaries]]

Latest revision as of 19:06, 25 October 2024

Prior Park College
Address
Map
Ralph Allen Drive

Bath
,
Somerset
,
BA2 5AH

England
Coordinates51°21′52″N 2°20′35″W / 51.3644°N 2.3431°W / 51.3644; -2.3431
Information
TypePublic school
Independent school
Day, full boarding & weekly boarding school
MottoLatin: Deo Duce Deo Luce
(God our Guide, God our Light)
Religious affiliation(s)Christianity
Established1830; 194 years ago (1830)
FounderCongregation of Christian Brothers
Department for Education URN109347 Tables
ChairA M H King
HeadmasterBen Horan
GenderMixed
Age11 to 18
Enrolment624
Houses
  • Allen
  • Arundell
  • Burton
  • Clifford
  • English
  • Fielding
  • Roche
  • St Mary's
  • Baines
  • Brownlow
Colour(s)Navy and Cyan   
PublicationPrior Knowledge
AlumniOld Priorites
Websitewww.priorparkcollege.com Edit this at Wikidata

Prior Park College is a co-educational public school for both boarding and day pupils in Bath, south-west England. Its main building, Prior Park, stands on a hill overlooking the city and is a Grade I listed building. The adjoining 57-acre (23 ha) Prior Park Landscape Garden was donated by Prior Park to the National Trust.

The school's parent body is Prior Park Schools, which also runs the Paragon Junior School (Bath) and Prior Park School Gibraltar.

Overview

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Prior Park College provides co-educational schooling for students aged 11 to 18. Founded in 1830 to be England's first Catholic university, it was established by the Benedictine, Bishop Baines, as a seminary. The school kept its links with the Catholic diocese – which meant pupils were required to study Religious Education to GCSE level – until 2024. By that time the proportion of students of the Catholic faith had decreased to 18%, and the school is now described as Christian.[1]

In July 2009, Giles Mercer retired. He had been head teacher since 1996, and with his previous position as head of Stonyhurst College, he became the "longest serving Catholic senior school headmaster in England".[2] His successor was James Murphy-O'Connor, nephew of former Prior Park pupil Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor. Since 2019, Ben Horan has been the headmaster,[3] after Murphy-O'Connor took up a new position at the Monmouth Schools.[4]

The school is part of the Prior Park Foundation which includes the Paragon Junior School, also in Bath, and Prior Park School Gibraltar, in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.[5]

Architecture

[edit]
Main article: Prior Park

The Palladian hillside mansion housing Prior Park College was designed and built by John Wood, the Elder in 1742. He was commissioned by Ralph Allen: "To see all Bath, and for all Bath to see".[6] The mansion was designated as Grade I listed in 1950.[7]

One wing of the mansion includes a chapel of our Lady of the Snows, built in 1863 by Scoles and Son, which is also Grade I listed; there is also a chapel in the original house.[8] The chapel is unfinished, with the pillars at the back remaining unsculpted as they were in 1863.

Landscape architecture

[edit]
Main article: Prior Park Landscape Garden

Prior Park Landscape Garden was laid out between 1734 and 1744, with the Allens benefiting during the first phase from the advice of their friend Alexander Pope. The Palladian bridge and the lake that it spans were added in 1755; the final phase with the green slopes from the house to the lake is thought to have been planned by Capability Brown in the 1760s.[9][10] The garden is now owned by the National Trust.

History

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In 1828, Bishop Baines purchased the mansion for £22,000 and used it as a seminary named the Sacred Heart College.[11] Renovations were made according to designs by H. E. Goodridge in 1834. The seminary was closed in 1856 after a fire in 1836 caused extensive damage and subsequent renovation caused financial insolvency. The estate was later bought by Bishop Clifford who founded a Catholic grammar school.[12]

The chapel was designed by J. J. Scoles in 1844 but not completed until 1863. It followed 18th-century French models such as Chalgrin's St. Philippe-du-Roule in Paris. Pevsner describes it as "without any doubt the most impressive Chapel interior of its date in the county".[13]

The grammar school closed in 1904 and the estate was occupied by the army during the First World War and by a series of tenants until 1921; the Christian Brothers founded a boys' boarding school in 1924. Prior Park College continues to occupy the main house. In 1993, 11.3 hectares (28 acres) of the park and pleasure grounds were acquired by the National Trust and have been extensively restored.

The mansion has been victim of fire twice. The 1836 event left visible damage to some stonework.[14] A 1991 fire gutted the interior, except for parts of the basement;[15] rebuilding took four years and cost about £6 million. Unusually, the blaze started on the top floor, and spread downwards. The school operated in the stables and former servants' quarters during the renovation.[16]

Facilities

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Prior Park leases The Monument Field from the National Trust. The field is named after a triangular Gothic building with a round tower erected by Bishop Warburton, demolished in 1953;[17] it had a circular staircase and contained a tablet inscribed in Latin in honour of Ralph Allen.[18]

Since 2000, improvements include an indoor swimming pool,[19] an Information and communications technology centre, and classroom extensions including the Mackintosh Dance Studio and Theatre (2006), the Design Centre (September 2016)[20] and the Bury Sports Centre (April 2015).[21] All sports facilities are located on site.

Former preparatory school

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In 1946 the Congregation of Christian Brothers opened a preparatory school linked to Prior Park College, at Calcutt Street, Cricklade, Wiltshire. The school's main building was the late-19th century Manor House, with extensive grounds.[22] At first a boarding school for boys, the school admitted day boys in the 1970s. After the Brothers left Bath and Cricklade in 1980, the school was sold and came under lay management but kept its name, Prior Park Preparatory School. Later, girls were admitted, and the school catered for ages 3 to 13, with boarding available from age 7.[23][24] In January 2015 there were 205 pupils.[25]

Since September 2017, the school is no longer a member of the Prior Park Schools Educational Trust, although it retains strong links with the college. Its name changed to Cricklade Manor Prep and it is one of the Wishford Schools group of preparatory schools.[26]

Notable alumni

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See also: Category:People educated at Prior Park College

References

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  1. ^ "Prior Park College becomes Christian school as it cuts Catholic links". Bath Echo. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Pupils, parents and staff honour longest-serving headteacher". Bath Chronicle. 8 July 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  3. ^ "Appointment of new Head". Prior Park Schools.
  4. ^ "Monmouth Schools Appoint New First Principal". Archdiocese of Cardiff.
  5. ^ "The Prior Foundation". Retrieved 19 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Ralph Allen Biography". Bath Postal Museum. Archived from the original on 7 June 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
  7. ^ Historic England. "Prior Park College (1394453)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Paul, with West Wing (1394459)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Green Priorities for the National Trust at Prior Park".[dead link‍]
  10. ^ "Prior Park Landscape Garden". National Trust. Archived from the original on 13 April 2009. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  11. ^ "Brief History". Diocese of Clifton. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Prior Park, Bath, England". parksandgardens.ac.uk. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  13. ^ Pevsner N, 1958, North Somerset and Bristol, page 115
  14. ^ Colvin, Howard; Mellon, Paul (2008). A biographical dictionary of British architects, 1600–1840 (4 ed.). Yale University Press. p. 1143. ISBN 978-0-300-12508-5.
  15. ^ Gillie, Oliver (6 April 1994). "Craftsmen restore country house to former glory: Sculptors use delicate skills to recreate rococo ceiling destroyed by fire". The Independent. London. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
  16. ^ Elgee, Emma (16 May 2021). "The day a Bath college burned to the ground - revisiting the Prior Park College fire". Bath Chronicle. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  17. ^ Lunt, Tim (2018). "Monument Field, Prior Park, Bath" (PDF). Bath and Counties Archaeological Society. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  18. ^ Tunstall, James (1847). Rambles about Bath, and its neighbourhood. p. 128.
  19. ^ "Prior Park College on www.isbi.com". Independent, Private, Boarding, Special, Day and International School directory. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  20. ^ "New art and design centre at Prior park College is full of big artistic visions". Bath Chronicle. 22 January 2015. Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  21. ^ "Prior Park College opens £5 million sports centre". Bath Chronicle. 22 April 2015.[permanent dead link‍]
  22. ^ Historic England. "The Manor House (1356093)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Prior Park Preparatory School, Cricklade". Wiltshire Community History. Wiltshire Council. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  24. ^ "Prior Park Prep School". Prior Park Educational. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  25. ^ "EduBase details for Prior Park Preparatory School". Department for Education. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  26. ^ "Cricklade Manor Prep". cricklademanor.com. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  27. ^ "Stephen comes home in glory after Brit Award". classicalx.com. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  28. ^ Fairall, Barrie (3 February 1995). "Cronin reborn as the demolition man". The Independent. London, UK. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  29. ^ "Psalm of Lydia Sweeps". YouTube. 28 January 2008.[dead YouTube link]
  30. ^ a b "Prior Park College". anglo-chinese.com. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  31. ^ a b "Prior Park Gossip Bowl 2007" (PDF). Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  32. ^ "Sir Cameron opens the Macintosh Studio at Prior Park College". cliftondiocese. Archived from the original on 11 December 2007. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  33. ^ Thomson, Alice; Sylvester, Rachel (14 February 2009). "Cardinal Comac Murphy-O'Connor:Recession may be jolt that selfish Britain needs". London, UK: The Times. Archived from the original on 14 August 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
  34. ^ "Former prior park students win bafta". somerset.greatbritishlife.co.uk. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
  35. ^ Stanford, Peter (28 March 2007). "The Rt Rev John Ward". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 25 August 2009.
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Media related to Prior Park College at Wikimedia Commons

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