History

Medieval Roots

Cobham Hall’s story begins with a Norman manor that King Henry II granted to the De Cobham family in 1206. The estate flourished centuries later when Queen Elizabeth I’s visits in 1573 inspired two Tudor wings, which still house the sixth form center and dining halls. The property changed hands but maintained royal connections—King James I passed it to his cousin, the second Duke of Lennox, in 1613, and Charles I spent his honeymoon here twelve years later.

Cultural Heritage

Beyond royal visits, the estate collected cultural treasures. In 1819, the Duke and Duchess of Kent stayed here two weeks before their daughter—the future Queen Victoria—was born. Later, in 1870, a Swiss chalet where Charles Dickens worked was moved to its park; the writer, a close friend of the sixth Earl of Darnley, had gifted it to the family. The estate also witnessed sporting history when Ivo Bligh, England’s cricket captain and future eighth Earl, brought the legendary Ashes urn here in 1882, displaying it on the old library’s fireplace.

School Foundation

During both World Wars, the building served as a military hospital—first for British troops, then Australian officers, and later for evacuated children and RAF personnel from nearby Gravesend. In 1957, the tenth Earl sold it to the government for preservation as a national treasure, though the Westwood educational foundation soon acquired it to establish a girls’ school. When Cobham Hall College opened in 1962 with fifty pupils under headmistress Brenda Hancock, it became England’s first new independent girls’ school in sixteen years.

Cobham Hall Today

The school joined Round Square in 1967 as its first girls’ institution. Four years later, Margaret Thatcher—who would become Prime Minister—opened the new Brooke House boarding facility. More recently, staff and students participated in the 2008 film Wild Child, shot on campus. After accepting boys into the sixth form in 2022, Cobham Hall became fully co-educational across all ages from September 2025.