The Duke of Gloucester officially opened a new sixth-form boarding facility at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire last week.
The new house consists of 40 en-suite study bedrooms and is named Weld House after Thomas Weld, who gave his Stonyhurst mansion and estate in Lancashire to the Jesuits in 1794.
Henry Weld Stuart, his heir and a major donor to the project, and a former pupil, was present at the ceremony, as was Fr Michael Holman, the provincial of the Jesuits in the British province. In his speech, Andrew Johnson, headmaster, said: “We are delighted to be opening Weld House, which is needed to accommodate an increasing number of boarders. It has been carefully designed to harmonise with Stonyhurst’s historic buildings.”
The Duke of Gloucester wished the 400-year-old school well in the next 400 years of its life, as it continues to prepare young people to serve in the world.
