History

Foundation

When nuns from the Religious of Christian Instruction arrived from Belgium in Sherborne in 1891, they established the order’s first British community with the aim of promoting academic and spiritual education for girls at a time when access to education was still limited.

Two schools operated on the same grounds: St Antony’s boarding school and St Joseph’s, which provided free education to local children until the 1950s. In 1948, the senior classes moved to Leweston Manor, an 18th-century Palladian mansion with distinctive Art Deco interiors and the historic Trinity Chapel.

Campus Construction

Between 1956 and 1984, the nuns gradually expanded the campus with a series of new facilities. These included North Wing, the 40-bed Dutch House, the first purpose-built classrooms, an outdoor swimming pool, and South Wing with its assembly hall.

By the late 1960s, the distinctive octagonal St Antony’s Chapel had been built on the grounds, with Pensabene Hall located beneath it. The following decade brought further additions, including art studios, workshops, science laboratories, and a sports hall.

In 1980, the school acquired the Coach House and converted it into an arts centre. South Wing was then expanded in 1984 to add a further 40 rooms for senior students.

Specialisation at Leweston School

In 1992, the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk officially opened the Norfolk Centre for Art and Design — a complex including ceramics workshops, a photography studio, sewing rooms, and design spaces.

Soon afterwards, the Longford Science Centre was added with three laboratories, significantly strengthening the school’s academic facilities.

A covered 25-metre swimming pool opened in 2009, later becoming an important base for year-round pentathlon training. A decade later, the upper floor of the Manor House was transformed into a music school featuring an ensemble hall and recording studio.

Most recently, in 2024, the school opened a modern equestrian complex known as the Riding Academy.

A New Chapter

In 2007, the institution adopted the name Leweston School, while retaining the historic crest associated with St Antony’s — symbolising continuity alongside a more modern and secular identity.

Although the school’s religious origins remain an important part of its heritage, they no longer define the entire direction of its development.

In 2018, Leweston became fully co-educational, welcoming its first boys into the Senior School. Today the school educates around 140 Senior School students and approximately 90 boys in the Junior School.

In 2019, North Wing was converted into Antony House, the first boys’ boarding house for pupils aged 8 to 18.