Welcome to the Hawkwood College web-site. Hawkwood College, a registered charity, is a residential centre of learning in the beautiful and peaceful Cotswolds of England. It offers a wide range of short courses, from music, science, arts and crafts to personal development. Hawkwood also offers a friendly, residential facility for people who run their own courses, seminars and conferences.
It is set in 42 acres of beautiful gardens, woods and fields, with its own spring water, and is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The college works with ecological and sustainable land management practices, using organic and biodynamic methods. The Hawkwood impulse springs from the work of Rudolf Steiner, founder of Anthroposophy, seeking to foster ways and means to a spiritual foundation of life.
For further information, click on the appropriate section in the menu above, send us an email, give us a call, or drop us a line - we look forward to hearing from you and to welcoming you to Hawkwood College.
Our 60th Anniversary!
Hawkwood College celebrates its 60th Anniversary this year. Sixty years of growth, of challenges, of exploration and of achievements.
Past and Future
Our work each day can sometimes be so taken up with meeting the needs of the moment, and planning courses, projects for the future, that we can forget that we are only able to do this because of people's achievements in the days and years before. The two elements constantly intertwine: the aspirations and impulses for the future, and the foundations and gifts given to us from the past, all meeting in our enthusiasm for the present, the now.
Connections and contributions
Everybody who comes through the door of Hawkwood College leaves their imprint, and we are thankful to everyone's contributions in making the college what it is today. It is an awesome and inspiring thought to think of how many thousands have come to Hawkwood over the six decades. We hope we have also left an imprint on those who have been here: new skills, inspirations - a touch of the spirit! - infused with a warmth and soul which Hawkwood has become known for.
The Founding of Hawkwood
The inception of Hawkwood is an inspiring story. Lily Whincop's husband had died shortly after they acquired Hawkwood in 1947. Mrs Whincop, at a loss for what to do with the large estate, met with her friend Margaret Bennell, a teacher and co-founder of Wynstones School, a Steiner school near Gloucester. It was 20th November 1947, the Queen's wedding day, and Miss Bennell had the day off work - the country was celebrating! She cycled over the Cotswold hills to Hawkwood, talking to Lily then about her ideas for adult education: a place where the adult aspirations for learning and the cultivation of the spirit could be met. Lily exclaimed, ‘You have the ideas, I have the place, let's get together!' Margaret and Lily thus dedicated themselves to founding Hawkwood College, with the first courses in spring 1948.
Celebrations in 2007 - 2008
Festivities began on Tuesday 20 November 2007 with a tea party and planting a rambling rose to mark the anniversary. Invited guests included Roberta Segal, granddaughter of Lily Whincop, Clea Tout, great granddaughter, Pamela Tawse, long-standing former trustee and neighbour, Graham Kennish and Deborah Leah, teachers at Wynstones, and eleven members of staff. Anecdotes about the meeting in 1947 (held in the same room) and connections between Wynstones and Hawkwood were shared, as well as memories of the early days of the college and the leading figures involved. Finely cut cucumber sandwiches (with crusts removed), coffee & walnut cake and petit fours were served beside a crackling log fire.
Richard Brinton, Principal
Hawkwood College
Stroud, Gloucestershire GL6 7QW
