Oak Hall, Haslemere
Encyclopedia
This article is about Oak Hall, the building in Haslemere which housed several schools. For Wispers School, Haslemere, see Wispers School
.
Oak Hall at Haslemere
, Surrey
, England is a Grade II listed country house.
and his wife from architect Theophilus Arthur Allen in 1910, and was completed in 1911. The house is built in the Elizabethan Revival style
, which was popular in the Victorian period but may have appeared slightly old-fashioned by the time the house was built in the Edwardian period.
The house was listed as Grade II by English Heritage
on 7 January 2010. The reasons for the listing, a statutory protection that prevents alteration to the building without prior Listed Building Consent, were given on the official listing document as:
Mr Michie died in 1919 and Mrs Michie moved from Oak Hall in 1925, when it was leased to Miss Voy and Miss Keyte-Perry.
In 1946 the Misses Voy and Keyte-Perry sold the house and estate to Norbert Hardy Wallis, who with his wife continued to run a school on the site until 1968.
Educational Trust. Wispers School moved to Oak Hall from its previous site at West Dean House
; it continued at Oak Hall until the closure of the School nearly 40 years later at the end of the 2008 summer term.
television series Leave Us Kids Alone
was filmed at Oak Hall in the 2007 summer holidays.
Wispers School
Wispers School was a British independent boarding school for girls aged between 11 and 18 which was founded in 1947 and which closed in 2008 after 61 years' operation...
.
Oak Hall at Haslemere
Haslemere
Haslemere is a town in Surrey, England, close to the border with both Hampshire and West Sussex. The major road between London and Portsmouth, the A3, lies to the west, and a branch of the River Wey to the south. Haslemere is approximately south-west of Guildford.Haslemere is surrounded by hills,...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England is a Grade II listed country house.
Residential house
The house was commissioned by Scottish artist James Coutts MichieJames Coutts Michie
James Coutts Michie Associate of the Royal Scottish Academy was a Scottish painter who specialised in landscapes and portraits....
and his wife from architect Theophilus Arthur Allen in 1910, and was completed in 1911. The house is built in the Elizabethan Revival style
Jacobethan
Jacobethan is the style designation coined in 1933 by John Betjeman to describe the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the English Renaissance , with elements of Elizabethan and...
, which was popular in the Victorian period but may have appeared slightly old-fashioned by the time the house was built in the Edwardian period.
The house was listed as Grade II by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 7 January 2010. The reasons for the listing, a statutory protection that prevents alteration to the building without prior Listed Building Consent, were given on the official listing document as:
- Architectural interest: as an Elizabethan style courtyard plan country house with varied compositional design, including crenellated corner tower, symmetrical entrance block and a series of gables to the other sides.
- Materials: for good quality brickwork with stone dressings and tile-hung gables, cast iron rainwater goods and metal windows.
- Interiors: for good quality fittings to principal rooms including panelling, exposed roof trusses, main staircase, original doors, marquetry inlay to some floors, plastered ceilings, stone and marble fireplaces, marble floors, heraldic stained glass and tiled bathrooms.
- Intactness: the 1910 exteriors and the interiors of the principal rooms are little altered. The later school additions are of lesser interest.
- Rarity of building type: there are very few examples of houses being commissioned by artists, especially large country houses. A large north facing room on the first floor was probably built as an artist's studio.
- Historical interest: some historical interest as the country residence of the artist James Coutts Michie.
Mr Michie died in 1919 and Mrs Michie moved from Oak Hall in 1925, when it was leased to Miss Voy and Miss Keyte-Perry.
Oak Hall School
In 1925, the same year that they leased the property, the two ladies commissioned an architect, J. H. Howard, to build the large north-eastern extension to the house. They established the first school at the site, Oak Hall School, and in 1938 were able to buy the freehold of the property. Over the years more classrooms and dormitories were added.In 1946 the Misses Voy and Keyte-Perry sold the house and estate to Norbert Hardy Wallis, who with his wife continued to run a school on the site until 1968.
Wispers School
In January 1969 Mr Wallis sold Oak Hall and its grounds to the Wispers SchoolWispers School
Wispers School was a British independent boarding school for girls aged between 11 and 18 which was founded in 1947 and which closed in 2008 after 61 years' operation...
Educational Trust. Wispers School moved to Oak Hall from its previous site at West Dean House
West Dean House
West Dean House is a large flint-faced manor house situated in West Dean, West Sussex, near the historic City of Chichester. This country estate has approximately of land and dates back to 1086, with various royal connections throughout the years...
; it continued at Oak Hall until the closure of the School nearly 40 years later at the end of the 2008 summer term.
Proposed Oak Hall Care Village
Planning consent to convert the Oak Hall complex of buildings into a "care village" for older residents has been obtained by the Nicolas James Group.Oak Hall in popular culture
The BBC ThreeBBC Three
BBC Three is a television network from the BBC broadcasting via digital cable, terrestrial, IPTV and satellite platforms. The channel's target audience includes those in the 16-34 year old age group, and has the purpose of providing "innovative" content to younger audiences, focusing on new talent...
television series Leave Us Kids Alone
Leave Us Kids Alone
Leave Us Kids Alone is a TV series made by Twenty-Twenty Television and distributed by Outright Distribution. It involved 10 one-hour episodes and was originally shown on BBC Three in October 2007....
was filmed at Oak Hall in the 2007 summer holidays.
External links
- English Heritage Listing for Oak Hall (Wispers School)
- Architectural history of Oak Hall by Hazel E. Morris commissioned by Wispers School (Microsoft Word document)
- An empty Oak Hall in September 2009; many photos
- An empty Oak Hall in October 2009; many photos
- An empty Oak Hall in December 2009; many photos