Normal school and grammar school

The Bay House site was originally a co-educational Normal School known as Gosport County Grammar School, which was founded in 1902.

The Grammar School was originally in the High Street, in a building of 1901.^[1] By 1951 the school was on four sites, including the Bay House site.^[1] The sites were amalgamated on the Bay House site in 1958.^[1]

Comprehensive

Bay House School, as it is today known, was established in 1972 through the amalgamation of Gosport Grammar School and Privett Secondary School. Sited adjacent to Stokes Bay, part of its premises occupies Bay House, built in 1838 by Decimus Burton as a seaside villa for Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton.^[2] The gardens of the house stretched all the way down to the sea at Stokes Bay as there was little more than a track in the way, which later became Stokes Bay Road.^[3]

John Croker, a friend of Lord Ashburton, was so impressed by the grounds that in 1842 he purchased the land next to Bay House and built his home there- Alverbank House, which later came to become the Alverbank Hotel.^[4]

Ashburton House, Gosport

From 'The Illustrated London News', 12 April 1863

The admiralty are about to take a lease of Lord Ashburton's mansion and grounds on the shore of Stokes Bay, which have recently been purchased by the War Department. It is the intention of the Admiralty, when they house and grounds are handed over to them, to fit the mansion up as a college for naval cadets.^[5]

In 1870, a naval college was established at Bay House, which became known as Ashburton House. Prince Alfred Ernest, Duke of Edinburgh, who was Queen Victoria's second son, attended the academy. He stayed at Alverbank House while he was studying there.^[3]

In 1892, Col. Francis Sloane-Stanley, a close friend of the Prince of Wales- who was later to become King Edward VII- took over the house.

In 1943 the house was sold to Gosport Borough Council, and the 17 acres of parkland were donated to the people of the borough.^[3]

Following World War II, the house became Gosport County Grammar School. The school was renamed Bay House School in 1972.^[3]

In a major fire in late 1984, the house, a grade II listed building,^[6] was badly damaged, but was subsequently restored to its current condition. The house re-opened to pupils in 1987.

The school has developed significantly since this time, including introducing a Sixth Form to the Gosport Area.^[7]

Academy

Previously a foundation school administered by Hampshire County Council, in January 2012 Bay House School converted to academy status. The school is now sponsored by GFM Education.