A PREPARATORY school based in a 211-year-old listed building has applied to replace its “dilapidated” main gates as one of the first stages of a proposed “master plan” to regenerate the site.

St John’s On-The-Hill School in Tutshill was bought by Dean Close School in Cheltenham two years ago to secure its future after several years of “financial burdens”.

NVB Architects were asked last year to draw up “a master plan for the school to identify how it may develop over the next ten years to improve its estate and position in the independent school market “.

A report to Forest of Dean planners says “the estate is in a very poor condition” and the gates no longer provide a secure boundary.

Future possible developments highlighted by the Somerset-based architects include the creation of a new boarding house, to provide both boys’ and girls’ houses, and the upgrading of the head teacher’s house to make it suitable for entertaining “distinguished guests and prospective parents”.

Other plans include the replacement of the current art and design and technology departments and an adjacent redundant former vehicle showroom, which are of “very poor quality and partially condemned” with a new building.

Also on the radar are a new kitchen and dining hall next to the boundary with Castleford Hill, and the construction of a new landscaped quadrangle in the heart of the school, creating a social and interactive place for pupils.

The school, which overlooks Chepstow Castle, caters for 222 pupils from Reception to Year 8, and a further 297 children in its nurseries.