Admission of girls prompts Winchester College to launch development

The college, the city's biggest private employer, is seeking planning permission for two new boarding houses on tennis courts at Kingsgate Park, off St Cross Road.

A large chunk of Kingsgate Park would also be redeveloped for an all-weather hockey pitch with artificial grass. Two sections of wall on St Cross Road will be demolished to allow access to the boarding houses.

A planning application was submitted to the city council just before Christmas.

The boarding houses are needed for the private school to accept girl boarders from 2024. Day girls were admitted in September. The two houses would accommodate 60 boarders each and 20 day pupils.

The application also includes a warning of the possible felling of a mature oak tree on Kingsgate Park. The college says it will be planting many trees.

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The new development would be very close to the sports centre also being built by Kingsgate Park which is due for completion this year.

The application could be controversial but so far the city council has received no objections. The college says public views of the new boarding houses, designed by architects Stanton Williams, will be limited.

In a planning statement, the college says: "These proposals represent a major point in the history of the school with the introduction of sixth form girl boarders and day pupils. Other sites for two boarding houses on the College campus were considered and rejected with the site at Kingsgate Park representing the least constrained site available to accommodate the floorspace needed to meet the College’s requirements."

On the new artificial pitches, the college says they will be available to outside organisations. "The opportunity to offer the facility to outside sports clubs and local schools will bring benefits to the local community and the College. The location of the new all-weather pitch north of the sports centre will enable use of the indoor changing facilities and off-road parking."

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The only public comment to the council planners is from Andy Craig, chairman of Winchester Hockey Club, who said: "Winchester City needs to have a pro-active and growing sporting strategy that has the necessary vision for the future to ensure the city continues to be a desirable centre of excellence in every sense. Winchester Hockey Club strongly support the logic behind this application which can only benefit many many youngsters."

The college says the development is vital to its long-term future: "In order to be able to continue to contribute to the cultural, social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the city, the College needs to retain its position as a leading educational establishment, that has adapted to meets the needs of pupils in the future. Without investment in new buildings and other facilities, the College’s prestige and its ability to maintain its existing land and buildings to the current high standards is vulnerable."

Antrim House, currently the school's medical centre on St Cross Road, under the plans, would become the home of the boarding housemistress. The medical centre would relocate to Kingsgate Street.

Other locations were considered and discounted for the boarding houses such as at the Art School and Science School on Kingsgate Road.

View from St Cross Road looking south. Image: Stanton Williams