It is the place where international royals and intellectual bohemians send their children to school and was once called "Hogwarts for hippies", but it seems few people in Wales know just how special St Donats castle really is. The crumbling Grade-I listed 12th century medieval castle in the Vale of Glamorgan holds a commanding position right on the edge of the heritage coastline, yet what lies within those theatrical crenelated walls remains somewhat a mystery.
The United World College (UWC) of the Atlantic, near Llantwit Major, is not a normal boarding school - Princess Alexia of the Netherlands studies there for starters - but it's one with an ambitious aim. It's ethos is "deliberate diversity". Or in other words, people from all over the world can get along if you shove them together in a castle. With four to a dorm, it's a place full of princesses, children of millionaires, and refugees and where "lifelong friendships" are formed.
International boundaries fall by the wayside as the teens pursue the International Baccalaureate (IB). Incidentally, it is was a lecture visit by Dr Kurt Hahn, a key figure in the development of experiential education, which inspired the creation of the IB. The castle was donated to the founding committee of the Atlantic College in 1960 and helped create the IB.
