Thorpe Underwood Hall

At the heart of our magnificent campus, with all its modern amenities, is Thorpe Underwood Hall. We are beautifully situated mid-way between Harrogate and York. From the earliest days of Christianity in England there has been a building on this site, described in the Doomsday Book as Chirchbie, Usebrana and Useburn and in 1150 as Kirkby Juxta Useburn.

In 1292, the Monastery of Fountains Abbey obtained a licence of ‘free warrant’ at Thorpe Underwood Hall, which the Abbot and his monks chose as a retreat for their ‘solace, profit and pleasure.’ The circular ‘Stewpond’, now beautifully restored, is still to be seen, so called because the monks used the fish it provided to have food always available ‘in anticipation of the passing wayfarer’. During the 19th century, Anne and Branwell Brontë lived and taught at the House for a time.
Following a disastrous fire in 1895, today’s building designed in the Tudor style, was constructed by William Aneley of York. The architect, Walter H. Brierley, won an architectural award for his design work. Many of the oak beams from the original building were saved and used in the main hall, and much of the stonework, thought to be Roman, was probably quarried at Aldbrough.

The campus on the Thorpe Underwood Hall Estate extends to over 100 acres of grounds and includes an enclosed, walled, ‘secret’ garden, a formal rose garden with a fountain and acres of informal lawns. A team of gardeners keeps the entire site in beautiful condition. As a foundation for a happy and secure school environment, the Thorpe Underwood Hall campus has little with which to compare.