SUPPORT and recognition

As we celebrate the recent refurbishment of the Manor House we have a new and exclusive offer for support and recognition. There are currently two rooms (with two more to follow) that need a name. Following the success of room sponsorship in the new library – ‘The Rathbone Room’ and ‘Dugdale’ – we would like to offer the opportunity for you to sponsor and name a room in Canford’s Manor House.

Room 1

This room on the first floor of the Manor House was formerly the bedroom used by the Prince of Wales when he visited the Guest family at Canford Manor. This room is 41 square metres and looks south over the sunken lawn with beautiful views. The room will be used for meetings, events and entertaining and will be accessed via the Grand Stairs.

Known as “The Crown Dormitory” by generations of School House pupils, the room now has the refurbished “crown” feature originally placed over the guest bed returned to its former position. It had been removed in the early 2000s as it was in a poor state of repair.

Suggested sponsorship donation of £12,000

‘We shape our buildings; thereafter, our buildings shape us’

SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL

Winston Churchill frequently stayed in Canford Manor at the end of the 19th century when visiting his aunt, Lady Cornelia Guest, and, while we might never know whether he was really shaped by his experiences at Canford, his comments are undoubtedly apt for the thousands of Canfordians who have lived and learned within the Charles Barry-designed Victorian mansion that has been the beating heart of Canford School since 1923.

However, the demands of health and safety legislation and fire regulations have made continued sleeping accommodation in the Manor House unsustainable and the boys of School House have already relocated to a brand-new purpose-built building on the site of Old Court House. In their wake, Canford Manor is being re-purposed to house all three day houses and to provide additional teaching and meeting rooms, thereby ensuring that as many current and future Canfordians as possible will have the opportunity to be shaped by their learning experience within the historic building.

The building’s new role has already begun with Lancaster pupils moving into newly refurbished facilities at the start of the Christmas Term, followed by Wimborne in February 2023 and work on the new accommodation for Salisbury gathering pace, but the old building has provided some particularly interesting challenges for the construction teams. In particular, meeting the stringent requirements of modern building regulations has meant removal of a huge quantity of paper sound insulation material from beneath the floorboards, while major structural components above the Old Library were discovered to have sagged by up to nine inches over the last century or so.

The occupants of School, Court and Franklin Houses were joined by the boarders from Monteacute in January who now occupy our second brand-new boarding house overlooking the CCF Assault Course and the Adby allweather sports pitch. This has co-located all of our boy boarders together at the southern end of the site, with the girls’ boarding houses already clustered in the north-east corner and our academic and co-curricular facilities forming a campus located in the middle.

David Brook

Room 2

Adjacent to Room 1, we believe this room was Lady Charlotte Guest’s bedroom. This room is 32 square metres and has an equally captivating view. The room will be used for meetings, pupil groups, events and entertaining, and will also be accessed via the Grand Staircase.

Suggested sponsorship donation of £9,000

Further details regarding future rooms will be provided in due course as they become available. All sponsorship for the above will support the Martin Marriott Foundation for bursaries. For more details or to discuss this further, please contact Rowena Gaston rjg@canford.com 01202 847471