Boarding school for sale for £5m after closure

Queen Margaret's School for Girls in Escrick, York, closed on 5 July

A boarding school in North Yorkshire that closed after 125 years is for sale with an asking price of £5m, just weeks after its final term ended.

Queen Margaret's School for Girls in Escrick is located six miles (9.5 km) from York, set within 39 acres of land, and includes a Grade II* listed former country house and sports facilities.

The school closed on 5 July due to "mounting financial pressures" and "despite tireless efforts", according to Terry Burt, chair of the board of governors.

A spokesperson from Sanderson Weatherall, the property consultancy handling the sale on behalf of administrators FRP Advisory, suggested the site could be developed for "residential, leisure, and care" usage.

Ancillary buildings, including classroom and dormitory blocks, two swimming pools, a sports hall and tennis courts are also part of the former school site.

The independent boarding and day school was founded in 1901 and provided education for girls aged 11 to 18.

The independent boarding and day school was founded in 1901

In June, the school announced via a statement published to its website that despite pursuing "every possible avenue", low pupil enrolment and lack of funding were amongst the reasons it was to close.

VAT on school fees, as well as "increased national insurance and pension contributions, the removal of charitable-status business rates relief, and rising costs for the upkeep and operation of our estate", were also behind the closure, it said.

The school was placed in the hands of administrators on 7 July.

The school was placed in the hands of administrators in July

Neil Bestwick, partner in the Asset Advisory and Recovery division, called the former school an "important piece of real estate".

"We are exploring the potential for a resurrected education-based use but also expect to see expressions of interest for alternative uses, including residential, leisure, and care, for which the property would be suited, subject, of course, to planning and other consents," he said.

Queen Margaret's School began life in Scarborough before the lease of Escrick Hall in 1949. The school purchased the building from the Forbes Adam family in the 1970s.

Another former boarding school near York, Gilling Castle, is set to become retirement apartments after its closure by Ampleforth College in 2018.

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