1206
Norman manor house on the site of what was to become Cobham Hall is granted by King Henry II to the De Cobham family
1573
Work commences on two new Tudor wings for the house – now home to our Sixth Form Centre and Dining Rooms - after visits from Queen Elizabeth I.
1613
King James I grants the Cobham Estates to his cousin Ludovick Stuart, 2nd Due of Lenox.
The Estates had been confiscated from the Brooke family following their involvement in a plot to put Arabella Stuart on the throne in his stead.
1625
King Charles I spends his honeymoon night at Cobham Hall.
1819
The future Queen Victoria, is born
The Duke and Duchess of Kent stay overnight at Cobham Hall. Their daughter, the future Queen Victoria, is born two weeks later.
1870
The Swiss chalet in which author Charles Dickens wrote is moved, on his death, to the grounds of Cobham Hall as a gift to his great friend, the 6th Earl of Darnley.
1882
Ivo Bligh, future 8th Earl of Darnley and captain of the England cricket team, is presented with ‘the Ashes’ on tour in Australia.
The famed urn will later rest on the mantelpiece of Cobham Hall’s Old Library for many years.
1914
Cobham Hall becomes a military hospital for the British Army and then for officers of the Australian army.
1914-1918
1939
Cobham Hall is used as a home for evacuees and then for RAF officers from the Battle of Britain fighter squadron based in nearby Gravesend.
1939-1945
1957
The 10th Earl of Darnley sells Cobham Hall to a Land Fund of the Government to preserve for the Nation.
The Hall is later sold to the Westwood Education Trust as home for a new independent school for girls.
1962
With Miss Brenda Hancock as inaugural Headmistress, Cobham Hall opens its doors to its first 50 students.
The first new independent school for girls to be opened for 16 years, Cobham Hall was the project of Mrs Bee Mansell, who wanted girls to enjoy the same public school education as provided for boys.
1966
Lady Harriet Bligh, sister of the 11th Earl of Darnley, is elected Guardian of Cobham Hall, having attended the school (housed in her own former home) since it opened.
1967
Cobham Hall joins the Round Square Conference of Schools, the first girls’ school to do so.
1971
Brooke House (currently boarding house for Sixth Form girls) is opened by Margaret Thatcher MP, who will later become Prime Minister.
1972
Miss Jill Hanson takes over as Headmistress.
She covers the swimming pool so it could be used all year round and converted the Dressmaking Room into a Physics Lab, allowing Cobham to teach Chemistry, Biology and Physics to A Level – highly unusual for a girls’ boarding school at the time.
1977
The ‘Unicorn’ Parent Teachers Association is born.
1988
Bligh House is opened by Lady Harriet Bligh.
1989
British tennis star and Wimbledon winner Virginia Wade opens the Activities Centre.
1990
English actress Susan Hampshire, three-times Emmy Award-winner and campaigner on dyslexia issues, opens the centre for learning support.
2003
The Tenison-Smith Studio Theatre is opened by former Head of Drama, Carey Tenison-Smith
2008
Cobham Hall is used as the location for the filming of box office hit ‘Wild Child’, with staff and students taking part as extras.
2012
A celebratory book is commissioned to mark the 50th anniversary of Cobham Hall, to which many Elders contribute.
2021
Mrs Wendy Barrett becomes Headmistress as Cobham Hall merges with The Mill Hill School Foundation.
2022
Cobham Hall becomes co-educational in the Sixth Form
2023
Cobham Hall announces partnership with renowned piano makers, Steinway & Sons, and takes delivery of a fine Steinway ‘B’ Grand to take pride of place in the Gilt Hall.
2024
Cobham Hall announces it will become fully co-educational from Years 7 to 13 with effect from September 2025.
2024
Opening in January 2025, Cobham Hall announces the opening of Bligh House SEND Centre located within the School site
The centre of excellence is a result of the unique collaboration between Mill Hill Education Group and Chiltern Way Academy Trust.
