Royal Origins
Bishop of London Richard Fitzjames and his nephew started their school at the king’s palace in 1519, they chose a bearded dolphin from the coat of arms as its emblem—later crowned to mark royal patronage. The Dissolution of Monasteries took away money for a decade until King Edward VI answered a request to bring it back in 1553, granting the institution Free Grammar School rights and establishing a twelve-governor Board whose meeting records continue unbroken to this day.
Tudor Estate
The crown transferred Hazlegrove House to Sir Walter Mildmay in 1558, during Philip and Mary’s reign. Eight years later he became Elizabeth I’s Chancellor of Money, cementing the estate’s place as a significant residence with gardens and old trees. His descendant Carew Hervey Mildmay finished a big reconstruction in 1735, creating the south facade and east wing around surviving sixteenth-century Tudor sections—the school came here in 1947 and acquired the entire place five years later.
Foundation Unity
King’s Bruton Foundation brought Hazlegrove Prep School and senior King’s Bruton under one leadership, creating a continuous educational path for boys and girls from two to eighteen. Around 40% of graduates progress to King’s Bruton, while others join leading boarding schools across Britain—the setup doesn’t require internal transfer. Both schools uphold Christian values and community care, yet each maintains distinct character: Hazlegrove works with younger students within boarding life, while King’s Bruton welcomes children from prep schools throughout the Southwest and beyond.
Seven Decades of Development
Since purchasing the estate in 1952, the school has built one of Britain’s best-equipped preparatory grounds through continuous investment. Community fundraising contributed £572,000 to the 1989 swimming pool, while recent years saw the 2014 Fitzjames Building, refurbished science laboratories in 2021, and restored boarding houses in 2022–2023. Seven decades of development have woven eighteenth-century heritage into modern educational standards.
Key campus milestones:
- 1962 — Blackford (girls’ boarding house)
- 1964 — Lankester Building
- 1971 — McCreery Teaching Block
- 1974 — Sports Hall
- 1982 — Squash Courts
- 1988 — Moberly Classroom Block
- 1993 — Pre-Prep Building
- 2001 — John Cann Centre
- 2022 — Lankester House renovation
- 2023 — Blackford House renovation
