School History

Charlton Park, the site of the school, was originally a hunting lodge belonging to King Edward the Confessor (1003-1066), the only English monarch who is also a canonised Saint. The manor of Cheltenham which included Charlton was royal property - hence the local area's name, Charlton Kings - and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Later the property was owned by a succession of families, and the original medieval manor house, known as Forden House, was rebuilt several times. It is now substantially as it was in the 18th century, though incorporating 16th century beams and brickwork.

In 1935 the property was acquired by a religious Order, the sisters of La Sainte Union, originally from France, who established a convent in the house and added new buildings for classrooms. Charlton Park School was opened as a Roman Catholic school for girls in 1939. An area on the edge of the site was given for the building of a new Catholic parish church, Sacred Hearts, in 1957.

The need for a similar Catholic school for boys in the Cheltenham area was met in 1958 when the Carmelite order of priests and brothers acquired another historic site, Ashley House, less than a mile a way on the London road. Here they opened Whitefriars School. The two schools had many natural links. For some years Catholic children who passed their 11+ were awarded places at the schools by the local education authority. Both schools attracted many pupils of other denominations, while retaining their Catholic ethos. New buildings were added on both sites as the schools grew.

By the 1980's, the numbers of L.S.U. sisters and Carmelite friars had dropped, and both Orders were moving out of education. The parents at Charlton Park and Whitefriars were very keen, however, that the Christian education provided in the schools should continue. A new lay-run trust was set up, and St Edward's School was created as a fully independent school. The main school (11-18) took over the Charlton Park site, while the Whitefriars site became St Edward's Junior School (2½ -11).

St Edward's has flourished. The building programme has continued: in 2008 a major new block, the Abbott Building (named after the first Chairman of the St Edward's School Trust), was opened providing a spacious new Refectory, Drama Studio and teaching rooms; for more details, click here.