History of BPS - Beaudesert Park School

History of Beaudesert

Beaudesert Park stands in beautiful grounds high up in the Cotswolds, commanding magnificent views over the surrounding countryside.

The School was founded in 1908 by Harry Richardson, in a country house in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, named after a Normandy castle nearby. It was a boarding school for just 30 boys, charging around 100 guineas per year.

Moving to Minchinhampton

With a vision for a larger school in their sights, the School moved to its present site adjacent to Minchinhampton Common in 1918. The private residence featured a Victorian mock Tudor mansion, known as ‘The Highlands’, and 30 acres of land surrounding.

In the decades since, the School expanded, taking on more pupils and purchasing outbuildings to cater for the School’s growing population. In 1921, the Richardsons bought 10 acres of land from the National Trust to serve as the School’s Playing Fields, which are just a short walk across the Common.

a black and white photo of a group of schoolchildren posing in rows for a school photo outside Beaudesert Park. Some of the children are sitting down, the ones behind are standing up.

Harry’s son, Austin, joined as joint Headmaster of the School in 1934. His other son, Barton, took over from Harry in 1950 when he passed away. Brother-in-law Vincent Keyte joined the brothers, giving the School three Headmasters.

In 1968, Beaudesert Park became an educational trust and a board of governors was appointed. The trust bought the house and grounds from the family. Soon after, in 1970, the trust appointed John as the School’s one and only Headmaster.

All Change

This was a period of transformation for Beaudesert. John introduced weekly boarding and accepted day children. A small number of girls attended Beaudesert previously (family members of staff), but girls officially joined the student body in 1981. The Pre-Prep department opened in 1987. What began as 80 boarding boys became 80 boys, 80 girls, 80 day pupils and 80 Pre-Prep children by 1995.

An extraordinary amount of redevelopment and building work took place under John's tenure as the school expanded. This included new science laboratories, an extension of the Pre-Prep and an indoor swimming pool.

James Womersley took over as Headmaster after John retired, and brought the School into the 21^st century. His headship saw the School switch from a majority full boarding, to day and weekly boarders. Beaudesert Park was one of the first schools in the country to launch flexi-boarding, allowing families to choose which nights they boarded.

The School launched its nursery in 2012, and its state-of-the-art Performing Arts Centre opened in 2015.

Since 2018, Chris Searson has taken the reins at Beaudesert Park, steering the ship through the covid years and looking ahead to Beaudesert’s bright future.