History & Heritage

The first reference to Beaumont is around the year 1300 when the estate and much of the locality was owned by Hugo de Remenham. Beaumont Estate was then known as Remenham. The estate (which was then over 91 acres) was then owned for a period by the Tyle family, and subsequently by John Morley, Francis Kibblewhite, William Christmas. It was then acquired by Henry Frederick Tynne who had architect James Gibbs re-design the house in 1705 and named it Bowman’s Lodge. In 1714 Thomas Tynne, 2nd Viscount of Weymouth inherited. In the mid-eighteenth century it was acquired by Sophia, Duchess of Kent. Back then, the land continued right down to the river.

In 1751 The Duke of Roxburghe purchased the estate for his son - Marquis of Beaumont (then a boy a Eton College) who renamed it Beaumont Lodge. In 1786 Warren Hastings, the first Govenor-General of India (Beaumont’s most celebrated tenant), acquired Beaumont Lodge at the cost of £12,000. In 1789 the estate was sold to Henry Griffith (which then still included the Bells of Ousley), who had Henry Emlyn rebuild the house in 1790 as a nine-bay mansion and carry out extensive improvements.

In 1805 the Beaumont property was bought for about £14,000 by Viscount Ashbrook, a friend of George IV. After his death in 1847 his widow disposed of The Bells of Ousley but continued to reside there until 1854, when she sold it to the Society of Jesus as a training college. For 7 years it housed Jesuit novices of the (then) English province and on 10th October 1861 it became a Catholic boarding school for boys with the title of St. Stanislaus College, Beaumont, widely known as the ‘Catholic Eton’. Queen Victoria is known to have visited Beaumont 3 times during the time in which it was a school.

In 1870 a chapel was built by renowned architect Joseph Hansom with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. It was carefully painted in 1902 by William Romaine-Walker who described his style as ‘The Grandchild of the Pompeian’.

The school enjoyed a fine reputation until 1967 when the order rejoined the faculty and moved to Stoneyhurst in Lancashire. In the gardens are poignant reminders of the school such as a memorial erected in remembrance of the old boys who lost their lives in the two world wars. Her Majesty the Queen planted a tree close to the memorial on 15th May 1961 to commemorate Beaumont College’s centenary.

Once the school closed, Beaumont Estate was purchased by British computer company ICL who used it as their training centre. In 2003, Hayley Conference Centres bought the venue and developed it into an upscale conference venue. The original White House in the grounds and the Chapel were left untouched and under-utilised, until Principal Hayley Hotels and Conference Venues acquired Beaumont House in 2007.

In June 2008, Beaumont Estate embarked on an ambitious refurbishment programme to completely renovate The White House and restore the Chapel. Just 5 months and £8.1million later the beautiful, the exclusive White House opened and the magnificent Chapel was unveiled.

History of Beaumont Estate's Rooms

The Dining Room - Known as “The First Guest Room” – Where parents were allowed to spend time with their children to pick up and drop off for exits – 3 times per term. It was also the visiting room for parents and children.

The Barramundi - Was the Rector (Headmaster’s) study.

The Joseph Bampton Suite & The William Bodkin Suite - This room was combined with the coved ceiling in the William Bodkin Suite as the Jesuit’s Chapel. As the central Chapel for all the Jesuit staff at the school it could seat up to 40 people.

The Roxburghe Conference Room - This was occupied by the School Chemist.

The Hastings Conference Room - This was the Matron’s study.

The Beaumont Lounge – This was the main dining room for the 13-15 year olds. The gallery area was for storage.

The Beaumont Room – This was the seniors dining room.

The Cedar Suite and our Admin / Sales Offices – These were the school kitchens.

The Wessex Suites – These were all classrooms.

The Hanover Lounge – This was the school library.

The Lancaster Rooms 1 & 2 – This was the School Captain’s room.

The Windsor Suites – Left hand side chemistry, right hand side physics.

The Buckinghams – This was the Sixth form block and built in 1962.

The Reception corridor – Before the existing extension there was a small corridor from the Hanover lounge to the swimming pool, and this was where the bicycles were left and there was also the school tailors based there for alterations and sewing.

The Sandringhams – This was the Old School Laundry

The Osbournes – This was the school Master’s House, and prior to that the Dairy.

The Kensingtons – This was the school workshop and carpentry store and the general estate workshop.

Other Information:

•The White House top floor bedrooms are where the Jesuit teachers slept.

•The original School Infirmary was based opposite Beaumont farm. The Sanatorium block was only built after the 1st World War

•The Pond – This was called the Captain’s Pond and it was stated that if the Captain could skate on the pond due to ice then a half day holiday was given.

Interesting Facts:

• The swimming pool was the first heated indoor swimming pool to be built in England.

• Coco Chanel’s nephew was a pupil, and the school blazer is said to have been the inspiration for the 1924 Chanel Suit.

• The first motorist in England was the Hon Evelyn Ellis, who in 1885 drove a car from his home to Beaumont.

• The Chapel is said to be inspiration for the chapel in Evelyn Waugh’s ‘Brideshead Revisited’. The current window is a replacement as the original was destroyed by a doodlebug which landed on the school during the 2nd World War.