Knighton House School - UK LIVING THINGS ACTIVITY: The mole, badger and hedgehog were the living things we chose to present. to our partners. LOCATION: A Brief Description of Durweston Durweston is a small village, located to the north of Blandford Forum and adjacent to the river Stour. It is in the heart of the county of Dorset, which is one of the southernmost counties in England, bordered by the sea. The entire village and farmland belonged to the Portman family until after the Second World War. It is situated in a conservation area with sites of outstanding natural beauty and archaeological importance and is surrounded by farm land. The local farmers farm sheep, cows and a variety of crops. Until the 1960s Durweston had three shops and railway station. Sadly today there are no longer any shops and the railway line has been turned into a popular cycle track. There are approximately 160 dwellings and a population of around 400 people. The village has a wonderful church, a village hall, two schools and a large playing field, which also includes a tennis court and skate board ramp. Knighton House School, is at the top of the hill, looking over the village of Durweston. The house originally belonged to the Portman family too, but has been a Preparatory school (children from 7 – 13years old) for 65 years. TRANSPORT Durweston is not well provided for with transport. There is no longer a train station in the village, so villagers rely upon a small bus to take them to the local villages and towns. There is a good family run taxi company in the village and most people have cars. However, it is easy to walk or cycle into Blandford Forum, our nearest town and from here there is a good bus service to the major towns in Dorset and to London. CURRENCY Although the United Kingdom is in the European Union, we still use pound sterling as our currency. This is divided into £ (pounds) and p (pence). £1.00 is approximately 1.26 Euros. MOST IMPORTANT BUILDINGS: ST NICHOLAS CHURCH: This Church of England Church dates from the middle of the 15th Century. The Bell tower, which houses 6 bells, is built of stone from a local quarry and is in remarkable condition for its 550 years. The six bells inside the tower are rung for Sunday church service. The sculptures of St Nicholas and a Madonna and Child, on the South side of the church are by Don Potter, and were installed in 1991. Inside the church the oldest piece of furniture is the square based font, which is built of Purbeck marble and is considered to be of 12th century origin. It is still used today for all Baptisms in St Nicholas. DURWESTON PRIMARY SCHOOL This village school was established in 1893. Durweston CE Primary School now prides itself in having 5 large classrooms and an upstairs teaching area for small group work and individual support. It also has a large reception/office, a Head Teacher's office, a comfortable sized staffroom, a large library, a sports hall which doubles up as a dining hall at lunchtimes and extensive grounds for the children to play in. There are about 100 pupils at this school KNIGHTON HOUSE Knighton House was built in the mid-18th century and was originally Durweston's village farmhouse. Knighton became part of the prestigious Portman family estate in 1774, when Henry William Portman purchased Knighton House along with the village of Durweston. Various members of the Portman family inhabited the house until1950 when it became a mixed preparatory school. After a couple of years Knighton House became an all-girls’ school and the house and outbuildings were adapted to accommodate school life. To this day, Knighton House remains a successful and highly regarded day and boarding school for approximately 120 girls. DURWESTON VILLAGE HALL The village hall, built in 2003, through time-consuming fundraising, has become a thriving community venue. The village hall's facilities are used for parties, particularly children’s parties but also c