St Aidan's
Founded as one of the four original Houses in 1926, St Aidan’s became our first girls’ boarding House in 2001.
Virtual House Tour
The first girls of St Aidan’s led the way in establishing co-education at Ampleforth and proved that girls would flourish at Ampleforth. Those early St Aidan’s girls established many of the activities and traditions that girls still follow today.
Originally in the main building, above Big Study, St Aidan’s is now located at the east of the campus, between the infirmary and the Sports Centre and overlooking the valley on one side and the orchards on the other. The Year 9 share in cosy 4-bed dorms, Year 10 and 11 share comfortable 2-bed dorms and there are generous single study-bedrooms for the Sixth Form. Each room has an en-suite bathroom and each wing a small kitchen, perfect for making tea at the end of the day.
St Aidan’s is a happy, welcoming community, where the focus is on the individual and ensuring that each girl achieves her potential in whichever field that may be.
Ceri Dent is the resident Housemistress in St Aidan's. She lives in House with her husband Mark, their daughter Florence, Jude the Border Collie and two elderly cats. Ceri is a long-standing member of the College community having joined in September 2008 and served for thirteen years as Head of Geography and a tutor in St Bede’s and for the past three years as Assistant Housemistress of St Bede’s. As such, Ceri has extensive experience in both the academic and pastoral lives of the College, augmented by her roles as an A level examiner and Duke of Edinburgh Award supervisor and assessor.
About St Aidan
St Aidan of Lindisfarne (d. 651) was an Irish monk and missionary credited with restoring Christianity to Northumbria. He founded a monastic cathedral on the island of Lindisfarne, also known as Holy Island, and he served as its first bishop. Aidan travelled ceaselessly throughout the countryside, spreading the gospel to both the Anglo-Saxon nobility and to the socially disenfranchised. He was responsible for educating pupils, teaching them to read and write as well as equipping them with the skills they would need to continue his missionary work as monks. St Aidan also ensured that it was possible for women in Northumbria to become nuns if they so wished. He is known as the Apostle of Northumbria.