Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Rendcomb College
Rendcomb College is a public school (English private boarding and day school) for pupils aged 3–18, located in the village of Rendcomb five miles north of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England.
Rendcomb College was founded in 1920 by Frederick Noel Hamilton Wills (Noel Wills).
It was announced in January 2026 that the school would close at the end of the 2025/26 academic year due to financial issues.
In 1918, Noel Wills bought Rendcomb Park with a view to forming a 'Transition School' to provide a free boarding education to about forty boys from the elementary schools of Gloucestershire and prepare them for entry to public school. He envisaged that by giving them "the best possible education, some would gain entry by scholarship to public schools and perhaps, a few ultimately to University. This initial vision was broad and generous, involving supplements from the endowment to subsidise scholarships and leaving scholarships for those who could not secure entry to public schools for ‘assistance in beginning professions and trades".
On 2 June 1920 Rendcomb College opened with twelve boys, James Herbert Simpson as headmaster and Noel Wills as chair of governors. The two worked at the school for seven years.
On 22 January 2026, Nicholas Ford, the Chairman of the Governors announced in a letter to parents that Rendcomb College would close at the end of summer term 2026, due to unsustainable financial pressures and declining student demand, despite financial support from the Rendcomb Foundation over the previous decade. The school's letter to parents listed as additional factors increases in energy costs, the effect of COVID-19, a rise in National Insurance costs for employers, and VAT on school fees.
Rendcomb Park was established in 1544 and by 1676 held 250 acres. In 1086, two estates at Rendcomb were owned by Gilbert, son of Turold. Five hides had formerly belonged to Aluric and three to Walter, his son-in-law. These estates passed to the Earls of Gloucester by the late 12th century, and were subsequently sub-let to the De La Mare family. In 1255, Earl Richard de Clare reserved two plowlands for himself; that land became Rendcomb manor. From 1387 until 1503 the manor was held by Thomas and Robert De La Mare and their descendants. In 1503, Edmund Tame of Fairford obtained it and by marriage it passed to the Staffords in 1547. Richard Berkeley of Stoke Gifford obtained it in 1564. The Guises purchased it in 1635 but a Berkeley continued to live there until after 1661. During the period when the Berkeley family held it, Elizabeth I visited in 1592. Sir Thomas Roe lived at Rendcomb during the time his mother Dame Eleanor Berkeley owned the Manor (1608). As a rule, the Berkeley family were only visitors. The De La Mares and the Tames lived at the manor. The Guises built a new house there.
The original college buildings consist of a large mansion built in 1865 by Francis Goldsmid and designed by the architect Philip Hardwick; the stable block, where science, maths, languages, ICT and geography are taught, and the Old Rectory.
Hub AI
Rendcomb College AI simulator
(@Rendcomb College_simulator)
Rendcomb College
Rendcomb College is a public school (English private boarding and day school) for pupils aged 3–18, located in the village of Rendcomb five miles north of Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England.
Rendcomb College was founded in 1920 by Frederick Noel Hamilton Wills (Noel Wills).
It was announced in January 2026 that the school would close at the end of the 2025/26 academic year due to financial issues.
In 1918, Noel Wills bought Rendcomb Park with a view to forming a 'Transition School' to provide a free boarding education to about forty boys from the elementary schools of Gloucestershire and prepare them for entry to public school. He envisaged that by giving them "the best possible education, some would gain entry by scholarship to public schools and perhaps, a few ultimately to University. This initial vision was broad and generous, involving supplements from the endowment to subsidise scholarships and leaving scholarships for those who could not secure entry to public schools for ‘assistance in beginning professions and trades".
On 2 June 1920 Rendcomb College opened with twelve boys, James Herbert Simpson as headmaster and Noel Wills as chair of governors. The two worked at the school for seven years.
On 22 January 2026, Nicholas Ford, the Chairman of the Governors announced in a letter to parents that Rendcomb College would close at the end of summer term 2026, due to unsustainable financial pressures and declining student demand, despite financial support from the Rendcomb Foundation over the previous decade. The school's letter to parents listed as additional factors increases in energy costs, the effect of COVID-19, a rise in National Insurance costs for employers, and VAT on school fees.
Rendcomb Park was established in 1544 and by 1676 held 250 acres. In 1086, two estates at Rendcomb were owned by Gilbert, son of Turold. Five hides had formerly belonged to Aluric and three to Walter, his son-in-law. These estates passed to the Earls of Gloucester by the late 12th century, and were subsequently sub-let to the De La Mare family. In 1255, Earl Richard de Clare reserved two plowlands for himself; that land became Rendcomb manor. From 1387 until 1503 the manor was held by Thomas and Robert De La Mare and their descendants. In 1503, Edmund Tame of Fairford obtained it and by marriage it passed to the Staffords in 1547. Richard Berkeley of Stoke Gifford obtained it in 1564. The Guises purchased it in 1635 but a Berkeley continued to live there until after 1661. During the period when the Berkeley family held it, Elizabeth I visited in 1592. Sir Thomas Roe lived at Rendcomb during the time his mother Dame Eleanor Berkeley owned the Manor (1608). As a rule, the Berkeley family were only visitors. The De La Mares and the Tames lived at the manor. The Guises built a new house there.
The original college buildings consist of a large mansion built in 1865 by Francis Goldsmid and designed by the architect Philip Hardwick; the stable block, where science, maths, languages, ICT and geography are taught, and the Old Rectory.