| Motto | In Fide Vade |
|---|---|
| Established | 1896 |
| Type | Independent Boarding School |
| Headmistress | Mrs Cynthia Hall |
| Founder | Dame Frances Dove |
| Location | High Wycombe Buckinghamshire England |
| Local authority | Buckinghamshire |
| Students | 540 |
| Gender | Girls |
| Ages | 11–18 |
| Website | www.wycombeabbey.com |
Wycombe Abbey is an independent girls' boarding school situated in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is academically one of the top schools in the United Kingdom, and the top girls' boarding school (in terms of academic results). The school was founded in 1896 by Frances Dove (later knighted and known as Dame Frances Dove), who was previously headmistress of St Leonards School in Scotland. Its present capacity is approximately 540 girls aged 11 to 18. The school is situated in 160 acres (650,000 m²) of ground in central High Wycombe. The land includes woods, gardens and a lake, and rises up to 500 feet (150 m) above sea level in the Chiltern Hills. The valuable land is owned freehold by the school.
In 2005 the school was one of fifty of the country's leading private schools which were found guilty of running an illegal price-fixing cartel, exposed by The Times, which had allowed them to drive up fees for thousands of parents.[1] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.[2]
The Good Schools Guide described the school as "Well-known, well respected, traditional girls' boarding school which suits self-starters and undoubtedly does well by them."
As at most public schools, the pupils are divided into houses. The houses at Wycombe Abbey are: Airlie, Barry, Butler, Campbell, Cloister, Pitt, Rubens, Shelburne and Wendover. Girls in Upper Sixth live in Clarence House, while the junior-most girls, the Upper Thirds, live in the Junior House. Every house at Wycombe Abbey is linked to a colour and, as part of the school uniform, girls wear ties which correspond to their house colour i.e. pale blue - Barry, green - Cloister, brown - Airlie, pink - Rubens, yellow - Pitt, orange - Butler, purple - Campbell, dark blue - Shelburne, red - Wendover. Each girl also has her own "house mother", a girl in the year above in the same house who looks after her, particularly when new to the school. Each house has a housemistress and a matron. The current headmistress is Mrs Cynthia Hall who was previously headmistress of St Helen's and St Katherine's School, Abingdon, Berkshire.
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The history of the school building itself predates Dame Frances Dove's acquisition of it. In the thirteenth century the area, with the parish church, was part of the holding of the Abbess of Godstow, (Ironically the priory at Godstowe, 600 years later, was too refounded as a school by Dame Frances Dove, and today is a 'feeder' preparatory school for Wycombe Abbey).
On the site of the present Wycombe Abbey was a large manor house known as 'Loakes House' which until 1700 was the seat of the Archdale family, when Thomas Archdale sold it to Henry Petty, 1st Earl of Shelburne. The first Earl of Shelburne in turn bequeathed the estate to his grand nephew William Petty (who inherited a different Earldom of Shelburne† in 1761, and became Prime Minister in 1782). The Shelburnes, however, had a far larger and grander residence at Bowood House in the Savernake Forest. They spent little time at Loakes House.
Consequently, Lord Shelburne sold his estates in the area. Loakes House was purchased from them at auction by Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington in 1798. He then employed the architect James Wyatt to transform Loakes House into the present Wycombe Abbey as we see it today.
†Henry Petty was created Earl of Shelburne in 1719, but when he died without heirs in 1751, the earldom became extinct. It was recreated for his kinsman, John Petty in 1753; it was this latter earldom that William Petty inherited.
As an architect James Wyatt, captured the romantic spirit of his era, creating a gothic ecclesiastical style. While building Wycombe, he was also engaged in the building of the greatest gothic extravaganza of the age Fonthill Abbey, a mansion that was a complete replica of a medieval cathedral complete with soaring tower; it was supposed to resemble the fictitious Castle of Otranto. Fonthill is now demolished which leaves Wycombe Abbey as one of the most important examples of this type of architecture remaining.
While a far less ambitious project than Fonthill, Wycombe Abbey is a jewel of the romantic gothic style. The castellated 3 floored central block has turrets on each corner, and is 7 bays wide, with sash windows. On the ground floor they are ogee topped in the ecclesiastical manner. There is a slightly incongruous bay oriel window in the centre of the 2nd floor. Attached, by a 2 floored wing: is a chapel-like block clearly indicating the architect's intention to emulate an abbey; this wing is completed by statues in niches on the external wall in the medieval catholic manner.
The whole composition is an echo of the house's larger sister at Fonthill. Like Fonthill Abbey, the whole structure was intended to imitate one of the older country houses genuinely converted from an old abbey or monastery. The final stage of the transformation was the renaming of Loakes House to Wycombe Abbey. This suited the mood of the era admirably.