St Martin's Ampleforth

File:Catholic Public School- Everyday Life at Ampleforth College, York, England, UK, 1943 D17372.jpg

{{Main|Gilling Castle}}

Gilling Castle dates back to the Medieval era and was originally home to the Etton family. It was Thomas de Etton who built, in the second half of the 14th century, the fortified manor house, a large tower almost square, whose basement still forms the core of the present building. It was later owned by Thomas Fairfax and changed hands a number of times before the Benedictine monks at Ampleforth Abbey bought the property in 1929.{{cite web|url=http://www.stmartins.ampleforth.org.uk/the-school/the-castle |title=A History of Gilling Castle|accessdate=25 May 2012}} The buildings were refurbished over the years to accommodate growing pupil numbers. A playground for the nursery and pre-prep department was added in 2004.{{cite news|title=Playground blessings|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/2004/12/01/Ryedale+Archive/6661388.Playground_blessings/|newspaper=The Press|date=1 December 2004|accessdate=25 May 2012}} In January 2018 a proposal was made to close the site, with the remaining pupils moved to a new junior house at the main Ampleforth College.{{cite news|newspaper=The Spectator|date= 4 August 2018 |title=The sorry demise of Benedictine education}}{{cite magazine|magazine=The Tablet|date= 9 January 2018 |title=Ampleforth prep school faces closure}}

The monks obtained ownership of the castle and founded a preparatory school there in 1930. Until 1992, it was known as Gilling Castle Preparatory School before merging with Ampleforth College's junior section to become Ampleforth College Junior School. In 2001 the Junior School merged with St Martin's, a prep school at Nawton, and became known by its current name.{{cite news|title=All change for St Martin's|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/2003/01/22/Ryedale+Archive/6664958.All_change_for_St_Martin_s/|newspaper=The Press|date=22 January 2003|accessdate=25 May 2012}}{{cite news|title=Job cuts as schools merge|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/2001/02/15/York+Archive/7946803.Job_cuts_as_schools_merge/|newspaper=The Press|date=15 February 2001|accessdate=25 May 2012}} The College has since moved its junior department to St Martin's and is solely a senior school.

Although St Martin's served as the College's main feeder school it was independently managed; the College's governing body was chaired by the abbot of Ampleforth Abbey while St Martin's was managed as a charity trust and chaired by a lay member.

By 2022, the castle had been vacant for four years; it was listed for sale by the Ampleforth Abbey trustees.{{cite web |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/heritage/former-ampleforth-college-prep-school-gilling-castle-on-the-market-for-ps375million-for-the-second-time-after-abandoned-holiday-camp-plan-3721322 |title=Former Ampleforth College prep school Gilling Castle on the market for £3.75million for the second time after abandoned holiday camp plan |date=8 June 2022 |work=Yorkshire Post |access-date=3 September 2022 |quote=}}

St Martin's prepared pupils for the Common Entrance Exam, which is taken in Year 8.{{cite web|url=http://www.stmartins.ampleforth.org.uk/the-school/prep-school |title=The prep school|accessdate=17 May 2012}} Many gained scholarships to independent schools.{{cite magazine|title=Schools Guide 2012 – St Martin's Ampleforth|url=http://www.tatler.com/guides/schools-guide/2012/prep/st-martin%E2%80%99s-ampleforth|magazine=Tatler|accessdate=17 May 2012}}

The boarding programme was open to both boys and, since 2001, girls.{{cite news|title=£5m helps draw more girls to boarding school|url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/around-yorkshire/local-stories/163-5m-helps-draw-more-girls-to-boarding-school-1-2448237|work=Yorkshire Post|date=28 January 2003|accessdate=25 May 2012}} They could have chosen between full or flexi-boarding. Senior boys resided in Castle House and junior boys and girls resided in separate sections of Foal Yard. Boarders were cared for by a team of house parents, resident teachers and boarding assistants.{{cite web|url=http://www.stmartins.ampleforth.org.uk/boarding-1 |title=Boarding|accessdate=17 May 2012}}

Rugby and cricket were the main team sports for the boys with netball and rounders for the girls. Hockey was available to both boys and girls.{{cite web|url=http://www.stmartins.ampleforth.org.uk/activities/sport |title=Sport at St Martin's Ampleforth|accessdate=25 May 2012}} St Martin's had a good track record in inter-school sports competitions, especially in cross country and athletics.{{cite news|title=Lydia leads the way in Ampleforth cross-country tilt|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/archive/2009/01/31/Park+Life+-+Grass+roots+sport+%28p_sport_parklife%29/4090677.Lydia_leads_the_way_in_Ampleforth_cross_country_tilt/|newspaper=The Press|date=31 January 2009|accessdate=25 May 2012}}{{cite news|title=St Martin's school pupils qualify for National Prep Schools Athletics Meeting|url=http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/sport/parklife/sports/4474082.St_Martin___s_School_pupils_qualify_for_National_Prep_Schools_Athletics_Meeting/|newspaper=The Press|date=4 July 2009|accessdate=25 May 2012}} Noted for its fine Music Department, its choirs not only sang regularly at Ampleforth College, but also appeared on Radio and Television.

{{See also|Sexual abuse scandal in the English Benedictine Congregation}}

In November 2017 the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse heard that priests abused six-year-old boys, which included beatings and sex abuse. A witness who was at the prep school and college for 11 years during the 1960s and 1970s complained about being "physically and psychologically abused" by a priest who was "nasty, cruel and physically violent towards me". After the witness had finished schooling, he experienced a "total psychological collapse" lasting seven to eight years. "I wasn't able to do anything, I couldn't function," he said. The witness said in his opinion Cardinal Basil Hume, abbot of Ampleforth Abbey for 13 years, had known about abuse at the schools. "I have no doubt he knew exactly what was going on at the time," he said. Three monks and two lay teachers were convicted of sex crimes against over 30 pupils between the 1960s and 2010, including Father Piers Grant-Ferris, the son of a Tory peer, who in 2005 admitted to 20 incidents of child abuse. The Yorkshire Post reported in the same year that "Pupils ... suffered decades of abuse from at least six paedophiles following a decision by former Abbot Basil Hume not to call in police at the beginning of the scandal."[http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Ampleforth-child-abuse-scandal-hushed.1258869.jp Ampleforth child abuse scandal hushed up by Basil Hume], Yorkshire Post, 18 November 2005.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/apr/04/top-catholic-school-stripped-of-pupil-welfare-responsibilities |title=Top Catholic school stripped of pupil welfare responsibilities|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=4 April 2018|date=4 April 2018}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20060715011403/http://www.stmartins.ampleforth.org.uk/ School Website]
• [http://www.isc.co.uk/schools/england/yorkshire-area-north/york/st-martins-ampleforth Profile] on ISC website
• ISI Inspection [http://www.isi.net/schools/7010/ Reports]
• Ofsted Boarding Inspection [http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/SC007941 Reports]

{{Schools in North Yorkshire}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Martin's Ampleforth}}

Category:Defunct schools in North Yorkshire

Category:Defunct Catholic schools in the Diocese of Middlesbrough

Category:Schools of the English Benedictine Congregation

Category:Boarding schools in North Yorkshire

Category:Catholic boarding schools in England

Category:Educational institutions established in 1930

Category:1930 establishments in England

Category:Educational institutions disestablished in 2020

Category:2020 disestablishments in England