The School Site: An Ongoing History

• 1619 Archbishop of York Samuel Harsnett purchased the land
• 1627 Harsnetts bought; 'Big School' (Swallow Library) built
• 1629 School formally founded
• 1775 'New House' built
• 1868 'English School', Headmaster's Study & Servants' Hall built
• 1873 'Tin Chapel' opened
• 1874 Old Hainault House & Stickmers became boarding houses
• 1876 Church House bought
• 1878 Wooden classroom built
• 1885 Swimming pool built
• 1889 First Gymnasium & Fives Court built
• 1896 Harsnetts became a boarding house
• 1905 New classrooms built at Harsnetts
• 1907 New Dining Hall & Woodwork room built
• 1914 Tuck Shop built & Lower Field bought
• 1924 'Memorial Chapel' (Current Chapel) opened
• 1924 Sandon Lodge bought
• 1929 New Hall built
• 1932 Fives Court built
• 1936 'Tin Chapel' demolished
• 1937 Library (Swallow Room) built
• 1939 Haylands leased
• 1940 Trenches dug in fields & air raid shelters built at Haylands
• 1949-50 Grange Court Purchased
• 1952 New classrooms built
• 1956 New classroom added to New Hall
• 1958 Science Laboratory opened
• 1961-2 Gymnasium built
• 1962 Walde Music School & pool at Grange Court built
• 1972 Swimming Pool heated
• 1973 Sanatorium moved to Grange Court
• 1974-6 Sandon Lodge became a boarding house
• 1976 Junior School built & School Shop opened
• 1978 'Big School' converted into library
• 1979 New Art School founded
• 1981 Practical Arts Centre opened
• 1984 All Weather sports area built
• 1985 Computer Laboratory opened
• 1987 New classrooms built & 'English School' sold
• 1988 Barker Room opened & OC Pavilion built
• 1989 School Archives moved to Pavilion
• 1990 Sports Hall opened
• 1996 The Thompson Building opened
• 1998 Science Laboratory extended
• 2004 Drama Centre built & Archives moved to Harsnetts
• 2005 Radleys Cottage purchased
• 2008 Wilson Building, new Junior School classrooms built & All Weather Pitch opened
• 2009 Junior School library extended
• 2010 Catering facilities redeveloped
• 2010 Harsnett’s and Church House converted into boys’ boarding houses
• 2012 The Old Chigwellian Club and land was incorporated into the school estate
• 2013 Pre Prep School completed and opened
• 2013 Two new science labs created
• 2014 Drama Centre balcony extended to provide additional music and drama rehearsal space
• 2016 The Risham Sarao Sixth Form Centre completed and opened
• 2017 Extension of Dining Hall
• 2018 Renovation of the Chapel
• 2019 Extension of Junior School
• 2020 3G football pitch constructed.
• 2023 New Sport & Wellness Centre
• 2023 New Wellbeing Centre