Shrewsbury School today revealed plans to extend one of its traditional boarding houses to create accommodation for its new intake of girls.

The independent school, which will break a tradition of more than 450 years to admit girl students, starting in 2008, wants to add a two-storey extension to the existing Tudor Court boarding house. School officials have lodged a planning application with the borough council.

They want to demolish a 1970s extension and replace it with bedrooms for lower and upper sixth form girl students.

The block would also include a tutor’s flat and study rooms.

Tudor Court comprises four sections, including the red brick Tudor House and Little Tudor, which both date back to 1910.

The school wants to knock down a link building and replace it with a boarding block more sympathetic to the rest of the buildings.

It hopes the extension, which would provide accommodation for nearly 40 girls, would be ready by 2010.

The school has just finished building one new boarding house, which will take girls from 2008.

Peter Fanning, spokesman for the school, said: “It is a medium term application. The first intake of girls will go into the new boarding home. If we do develop on Tudor Court it would be to take girls in 2010.

“Initially the first two years of girls will go into the new boarding house which is complete. We hope to eventually have about 100 girls so we will need more accommodation.”

In its application to the borough council, the school said: “Shrewsbury School has embarked on a rolling programme of renewal, refurbishment and reconfiguration of existing boarding houses, on and off campus.”

“The two-storey link building and the extension appear to date from the 1970s and are unsympathetic to the style and scale of the original building.”

The school confirmed in June that it would be admitting girls from September 2008.

It said it believed in traditional values but had to move with the times.

The school had initially planned to accept girls in September 2007 but delayed the move by 12 months to allow the new boarding house to be completed.

A first year entry of more than 30 girls is expected.

Since it was founded in 1552, Shrewsbury has been a boys-only school.

By Steve Todd