Sherfield School – a brief history
Buckfield, our most imposing building, is a grand Grade ll listed Victorian manor house with 12th century medieval origins. The original manor on the site was gifted by King Henry ll to his marshal William Fitz Aldelin.
The manor passed between various noble families, including the Marquis of Winchester and later the Duke of Wellington. The current building was built in 1870 replacing the Tudor built Archer Lodge which burnt down and incorporates some of the bricks from this building. When the house was extended in 1897, the building became known as Sherfield Manor.
The work was carried out by Lord James Benjamin Taylor and the entrance hall and surrounding rooms are impressive. The sweeping carved wooden staircase was created in situ by Italian craftsmen and the intricately moulded ceilings are rumoured to be from a Florentine palace. In 1908 the Liddell family moved into the manor. Their eldest son, Aidan Liddell, was a First World War hero as a captain in charge of a machine gun section, seeing action on the frontline with The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He became only the third airman to be awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery. The walled garden was also at the peak of its floral magnificence in the early 1900’s and was a popular attraction for visitors to the mansion!
Sherfield Manor became a girls’ boarding school in 1947 and the current school opened in 2004.