Mill Hill School

Mill Hill School stands on a 120-acre site in Mill Hill, a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet. Founded in 1807 by a committee of Nonconformist merchants and ministers including John Pye-Smith, it began as a boys’ grammar school. The school occupies land once owned by botanist Peter Collinson, whose gardens once grew rare plants. Collinson planted Britain’s first hydrangea here in 1746, and some of his original species still grow in the grounds. The estate later passed to botanist Richard Salisbury, whose disputes with guest James Edward Smith are part of the school’s history. The school became co-educational in 1997 after first admitting sixth-form girls in 1975. Its chapel, designed by Basil Champneys, opened in 1896 in basilica form. The School House, built in 1825 by Sir William Tite in Greco-Roman style, remains a landmark. Other buildings range from traditional to modern, including the Patrick Troughton Theatre dedicated in 2007. The cricket house once served as a set for an episode of *Inspector Morse*. Visitors walk through grounds once shaped by Collinson and later gardeners like Richard William Bowry Buckland. The Ridgeway House, Collinson’s original home, still stands on the site. Boarding houses such as Collinson and Ridgeway share the estate with day houses named after former heads like Atkinson and Murray. The school’s history includes wartime use as a hospital and a celebrated bicentenary in 2007 marked by a new coat of arms.