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Benenden School is an independent boarding school for girls. Probably its best known former pupil was Princess Anne. The school was founded in 1923 by three mistresses from Wycombe Abbey. The new school had a temporary home in Bickley near Bromley for the first term while the three founders set about finding a new permanent site, requiring at least 70 bedrooms and large grounds. In January 1924 Hemsted Park, near Benenden village in Kent, was leased to the founders and the school was named Benenden School. In October 1924 the new Benenden School purchased Hemsted House, a Victorian mansion built for Viscount Cranbrook in 1859, which forms the centrepiece of the school. A whole series of further buildings have been added over the years.