St Paul’s Cathedral School has formally opened its first boarding house for girls. For the first time in its 900-year history, girls will be able to board at the Cathedral’s choir school.
Since June 2024, girl choristers have been admitted as full members into St Paul’s Cathedral’s world-renowned choir. Now, the opening of the new girls’ boarding house means girl choristers can also board at the Cathedral School, giving them equal access to all aspects of choir life.
Being able to board at the Cathedral School is a positive step for the choristers, who have a demanding schedule of early morning rehearsals and evening performances. The new boarding house will allow the Cathedral School to provide a high level of pastoral support to choristers and attract candidates from across the country and overseas.
Judith Fremont-Barnes, Head of St Paul’s Cathedral School, said:
“We are delighted to celebrate the opening of our new boarding house. The corridors are already filled with the sound of happy children’s voices. Girls and boys now have fully equal access to the inspirational programme of music education led by Andrew Carwood MBE.”
Dean of St Paul’s, the Very Revd Andrew Tremlett, said:
“This world-class new boarding house, and the welcome it offers to choristers, has only been made possible with the help of our generous donors and supporters. Thanks to their support of the Girls’ Voices campaign, we have been able to achieve our ambition of welcoming girls fully into the Cathedral’s choir. This is just the beginning, as we begin an exciting new phase in our history and, alongside our scholarship programme, means that any child can now become a chorister, whatever their background.”
Andrew Carwood, Director of Music, said:
“It is always a joy to welcome new choristers into the choir, and now more young singers will have the opportunity to benefit from the exceptional programme offered here. The new boarding house means we can finally offer girls a truly equal experience, a long-held ambition which we’ve been working towards for some time.”
The new accommodation will be named Maria Hackett House in memory of the inspirational figure whose campaign in the 1870s for better conditions for the choristers led to the creation of the first St Paul’s Choir School in Carter Lane. An extensive refurbishment of an existing Grade 2 building has provided five new dormitories, three bathrooms and two common rooms to create a ‘home from home’ for the new boarders.
The new boarding house has been made possible thanks to generous donations to the Cathedral’s Girls’ Voices campaign, which was established so that girl choristers could also benefit from a world class musical education, regardless of their family’s ability to pay. Since its launch in 2023, the campaign has raised over £2.6 million.
