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I was working at Fulham FC last weekend so I stuck a couple of days on the start of the trip so that Tonto and I could take in a few explores darn' sarf before hand. On the way down we had a gander at Dunloe Lodge then the following morning we drove down to Hawkshurst in Kent to take in Lillesden Girls School and the Barnardos Baby Castle.
Anyone else doing either of these sites should stop for lunch at the pub opposite the Baby Castle because the food there is awesome and the beer is great... respect going out to the guys who run the place!
I digress...
In 1853 an old Elizabethan mansion near Hawkshurst, together with the surrounding grounds, was bought by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Loyd, a wealthy banker from Manchester. Eventually his bank, Jones Loyd & Co, became what is now the Nat West. By 1876 Loyd had also become the High Sheriff of Kent. This influential figure is said to have dined out the Kaiser of Germany on his steam powered yacht "Daydream".
Loyd set about creating his perfect home by demolishing the original house and building in it's place a Gothic mansion. He also made several improvements to the estate including the damming of the Kent Ditch stream to create ornamental lakes, the building of a gas works, an ice house, a modern water supply and a tower. By 1862 he had added a conservatory on to the south side of the house and planted ornamental gardens on adjacent farm land he had also acquired.
Colonel Loyd died in 1890 followed ten years later by his wife, leaving the estate, which by now covered 199 hectares, to their youngest son Llewellyn.
Just 14 years later the First World War broke out and the house was requisitioned to be used as a hospital for Belgian refugees and wounded soldiers. Soon after the war, in 1922, the estate was broken up and the house, together with approximately 10 hectares of the park, was bought by Saint Wilfred’s Boys Preparatory School. The boy's school remained at the house until 1936 when it was offered for sale, described as ‘most suitable for a large institution, boys’ or girls’ school, hotel, convent or private residence’ with ‘beautiful gardens and grounds’ (taken from the Sales Particulars of that time). Yet another change of name followed and it became Saint Cuthbert’s Girls School. But the school's residency was short lived for only four years later in 1940 the War Office took over the site to use as a hospital yet again.
When the Second World War ended the buildings were handed back but they were in such an appalling state much work had to be done to restore a semblance of order. But despite the problems everything was soon back to normal and they took the opportunity to expand further still. And with the expansion came yet another name change, this time to "Lillesden Girls School". Lillesden did well over the years and continued to expand, buying up nearby properties including Hall House, Collingwood House and Malt House. In 1975 the school merged with Bedgebury Park, Goudhurst and Hollington Park Schools, and was renamed yet again, this time as Bedgebury Lower School. But in 1998 the end came for the Lillesden site. The school at that time was very popular with the pupils so it was with great sadness that everything moved over to nearby Bedgebury.
Following the school closure, Lillesden House and the immediate grounds were sold to a consortium of private investors but all the other buildings including the lodge, stable block, kitchen garden and water tower were sold separately. In 2009 a planning application was submitted for 'change of use and alteration' to create 14 residential apartments within the house, and 4 detached and 6 terraced houses in the grounds. Despite the lengthy period since planning was agreed nothing appears to have been done on the site at this time and the house is in a middling state of decay. Pykeys have stolen much of the lead from the roofs and water penetration has rotted many of the upper floor rooms, but at some point remedial action has been carried out with the erection of an unsightly scaffolding canopy across the worst affected area of the roof. The gym hall, constructed as it was from wood, is in a severe state of dilapidation now and almost half of the building has collapsed leaving everything but the stage open to the elements. The swimming pool building has gone completely leaving an open air pool full of stagnant, green water and there are no signs of their ever having been a building there in the first place. A large, pre-fabricated classroom block opposite the house is going rapidly the same way and although the chemistry classroom is still OK the adjacent room has begun to be colonised by a rather fetching ivy which covers most of one wall.
The decay within the house proper has rendered some areas extremely hazardous with gaping holes appearing in the upper room floors; indeed putting one foot in front of the other can prove rather "crunchy" in many areas of the building. I saw a report, though not confirmed, that an urb-exer recently fell through a floor and was killed. I strongly suspect though that this is no more than a story concocted by the two security guards who roam around infrequently with a large dog in tow acting out the classic Mr. Nice and Mr. Nasty routine whenever they happen to come across a careless explorer! That said I had a rather odd experience when we first entered the building, perhaps it was the ghost of the urb-exer trying to make contact so that he or she could compare camera settings - that or the infinitely more common "jitters upon arrival" syndrome!
I read on a Lillesden old girls forum somewhere that television presenter Sarah-Jane Woodall, better known as "Trinny", is a former Lillesden girl. At £4,300 a term Lillesden was not a cheap education option but apparently there were seldom any free places at the school. To their great credit examination results were very good with the majority of pupils achieving the highest grades, all the more surprising in view of the fact that the school did not limit it's intake to bright stars and flyers - they had a good reputation for teaching dyslexic and even dyspraxic girls too.
On to the photos!
The approach to the mansion entrance from the Hastings Road...
The front door...
The Lillesden crest in the door lintel...
Embellishments to the main entrancel...
The Lillesden Girls School badge within the assembly halll...
Ground floor hallway...
Darkly mysterious stairwells... gotta love 'em!
What would these look like if they were polished up again?
I love how light and airy this room is!
Leaded window...
I'm not the biggest fan ever of grafitti but Tonto and I were amazed at this work...
...and this one too!
A slightly less dodgy staircase than many we've trodden!
A half wall together with a huge store cupboard - was this the tuck shop?
The stairwell down into the cellar where the school had a disco, heating, oil storage tanks, workshop and what looks like a sick bay...
The wine cellar - boozy b*ggers! Not perhaps what you would expect to find in a school!
Ring, ring, ring you breaktime bell. Bring to end my mathematics hell... Look, I never pretended to be Wordsworth...
A toilet cistern half in one room, half in the other - you can't beat a good bodger!
Cast iron door ornamentation in the cellars...
Bad, bad dolly! Go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect £200...
Tonto in the blue room. I think this was a dance class room. It's a shame someone has chavved the mirror...
Sound advice on a supporting stone taken out of a roof supporting column in the main hall...
This is what happens when you p*ss Goofy off...
The so called "Golden Landing" which floods with natural light even on the gloomiest of days. It must have looked awesome...
This together with two huge picture windows and numerous mirrors is why the landing is so bright...
A narrow staircase goes up to the top floor. We didn't find the clock tower and I wonder if this was the way we should have gone...
Looking down on to the Golden Landing through the huge picture windows...
The lovely, delicate colour comes from the light reflecting off the ivy growing over the covered way roof and walls...
Not quite roof topping!
It's hard to think that this was once an indoor, heated, pool because all signs of the associated building are completely gone...
Lane markers from the pool...
Within the pre-fab classroom block opposite the house proper...
The remains of the pond and fountain...
What more beautiful setting could you wish for your children to enjoy their school years?
Hope you enjoyed our photos, please follow our website link if you want to see the full set.
Thanks for looking!
Anyone else doing either of these sites should stop for lunch at the pub opposite the Baby Castle because the food there is awesome and the beer is great... respect going out to the guys who run the place!
I digress...
In 1853 an old Elizabethan mansion near Hawkshurst, together with the surrounding grounds, was bought by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Loyd, a wealthy banker from Manchester. Eventually his bank, Jones Loyd & Co, became what is now the Nat West. By 1876 Loyd had also become the High Sheriff of Kent. This influential figure is said to have dined out the Kaiser of Germany on his steam powered yacht "Daydream".
Loyd set about creating his perfect home by demolishing the original house and building in it's place a Gothic mansion. He also made several improvements to the estate including the damming of the Kent Ditch stream to create ornamental lakes, the building of a gas works, an ice house, a modern water supply and a tower. By 1862 he had added a conservatory on to the south side of the house and planted ornamental gardens on adjacent farm land he had also acquired.
Colonel Loyd died in 1890 followed ten years later by his wife, leaving the estate, which by now covered 199 hectares, to their youngest son Llewellyn.
Just 14 years later the First World War broke out and the house was requisitioned to be used as a hospital for Belgian refugees and wounded soldiers. Soon after the war, in 1922, the estate was broken up and the house, together with approximately 10 hectares of the park, was bought by Saint Wilfred’s Boys Preparatory School. The boy's school remained at the house until 1936 when it was offered for sale, described as ‘most suitable for a large institution, boys’ or girls’ school, hotel, convent or private residence’ with ‘beautiful gardens and grounds’ (taken from the Sales Particulars of that time). Yet another change of name followed and it became Saint Cuthbert’s Girls School. But the school's residency was short lived for only four years later in 1940 the War Office took over the site to use as a hospital yet again.
When the Second World War ended the buildings were handed back but they were in such an appalling state much work had to be done to restore a semblance of order. But despite the problems everything was soon back to normal and they took the opportunity to expand further still. And with the expansion came yet another name change, this time to "Lillesden Girls School". Lillesden did well over the years and continued to expand, buying up nearby properties including Hall House, Collingwood House and Malt House. In 1975 the school merged with Bedgebury Park, Goudhurst and Hollington Park Schools, and was renamed yet again, this time as Bedgebury Lower School. But in 1998 the end came for the Lillesden site. The school at that time was very popular with the pupils so it was with great sadness that everything moved over to nearby Bedgebury.
Following the school closure, Lillesden House and the immediate grounds were sold to a consortium of private investors but all the other buildings including the lodge, stable block, kitchen garden and water tower were sold separately. In 2009 a planning application was submitted for 'change of use and alteration' to create 14 residential apartments within the house, and 4 detached and 6 terraced houses in the grounds. Despite the lengthy period since planning was agreed nothing appears to have been done on the site at this time and the house is in a middling state of decay. Pykeys have stolen much of the lead from the roofs and water penetration has rotted many of the upper floor rooms, but at some point remedial action has been carried out with the erection of an unsightly scaffolding canopy across the worst affected area of the roof. The gym hall, constructed as it was from wood, is in a severe state of dilapidation now and almost half of the building has collapsed leaving everything but the stage open to the elements. The swimming pool building has gone completely leaving an open air pool full of stagnant, green water and there are no signs of their ever having been a building there in the first place. A large, pre-fabricated classroom block opposite the house is going rapidly the same way and although the chemistry classroom is still OK the adjacent room has begun to be colonised by a rather fetching ivy which covers most of one wall.
The decay within the house proper has rendered some areas extremely hazardous with gaping holes appearing in the upper room floors; indeed putting one foot in front of the other can prove rather "crunchy" in many areas of the building. I saw a report, though not confirmed, that an urb-exer recently fell through a floor and was killed. I strongly suspect though that this is no more than a story concocted by the two security guards who roam around infrequently with a large dog in tow acting out the classic Mr. Nice and Mr. Nasty routine whenever they happen to come across a careless explorer! That said I had a rather odd experience when we first entered the building, perhaps it was the ghost of the urb-exer trying to make contact so that he or she could compare camera settings - that or the infinitely more common "jitters upon arrival" syndrome!
I read on a Lillesden old girls forum somewhere that television presenter Sarah-Jane Woodall, better known as "Trinny", is a former Lillesden girl. At £4,300 a term Lillesden was not a cheap education option but apparently there were seldom any free places at the school. To their great credit examination results were very good with the majority of pupils achieving the highest grades, all the more surprising in view of the fact that the school did not limit it's intake to bright stars and flyers - they had a good reputation for teaching dyslexic and even dyspraxic girls too.
On to the photos!
The approach to the mansion entrance from the Hastings Road...
The front door...
The Lillesden crest in the door lintel...
Embellishments to the main entrancel...
The Lillesden Girls School badge within the assembly halll...
Ground floor hallway...
Darkly mysterious stairwells... gotta love 'em!
What would these look like if they were polished up again?
I love how light and airy this room is!
Leaded window...
I'm not the biggest fan ever of grafitti but Tonto and I were amazed at this work...
...and this one too!
A slightly less dodgy staircase than many we've trodden!
A half wall together with a huge store cupboard - was this the tuck shop?
The stairwell down into the cellar where the school had a disco, heating, oil storage tanks, workshop and what looks like a sick bay...
The wine cellar - boozy b*ggers! Not perhaps what you would expect to find in a school!
Ring, ring, ring you breaktime bell. Bring to end my mathematics hell... Look, I never pretended to be Wordsworth...
A toilet cistern half in one room, half in the other - you can't beat a good bodger!
Cast iron door ornamentation in the cellars...
Bad, bad dolly! Go straight to jail, do not pass go, do not collect £200...
Tonto in the blue room. I think this was a dance class room. It's a shame someone has chavved the mirror...
Sound advice on a supporting stone taken out of a roof supporting column in the main hall...
This is what happens when you p*ss Goofy off...
The so called "Golden Landing" which floods with natural light even on the gloomiest of days. It must have looked awesome...
This together with two huge picture windows and numerous mirrors is why the landing is so bright...
A narrow staircase goes up to the top floor. We didn't find the clock tower and I wonder if this was the way we should have gone...
Looking down on to the Golden Landing through the huge picture windows...
The lovely, delicate colour comes from the light reflecting off the ivy growing over the covered way roof and walls...
Not quite roof topping!
It's hard to think that this was once an indoor, heated, pool because all signs of the associated building are completely gone...
Lane markers from the pool...
Within the pre-fab classroom block opposite the house proper...
The remains of the pond and fountain...
What more beautiful setting could you wish for your children to enjoy their school years?
Hope you enjoyed our photos, please follow our website link if you want to see the full set.
Thanks for looking! 
