British Preparatory Schools: Spacious Grounds
Figure 1.--Many prep school children certainly enjoy the spacious grounds afforded by quite a number of schools. Much of the area is often devoted to sports grounds. Many prep schools certainly are set in beautifully landscaped, spacious grounds. It is not unusual for a country boarding school to have grounds comprising 25 acres or more, some have grounds exceeding 100 acres.
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Many prep school children certainly enjoy the spacious grounds afforded by quite a number of schools. Much of the area is often devoted to sports grounds. The delightful gardens may catch their mother's eyes and immaculate cricket pitches impress their fathers' attention. It is, however, the sometimes extensive overgrown, wooded areas that most appeal to the children--especially the younger boys. Many prep schools certainly are set in beautifully landscaped, spacious grounds. It is not unusual for a country boarding school to have grounds comprising 25 acres or more, some have grounds exceeding 100 acres. Often the schools have taken over spacious country homes and the grounds that individuals can no longer afford to maintain. Highfield in Hampshire, for example, is situated on about 170 acres of woodlands and fields. Many schools even have lovely ponds (such as Felsted, Old Buckenham Hall, Streete Court, Walhampton, and other schools) that the children can use for boating practice, fishing, nature study, and other activities. Wide expanses of verdant green grass provide graceful settings for cricket and other sports pitches bordered by impressive stands of stately trees. The sports grounds of course are needed for various games that are an important part of the prep school program. Of course it is the schools set in rural areas that can the most spacious grounds, Quite a few schools, however, were founded before the growth of the suburbs and have extensive grounds even though they are now surrounded by suburban development.
