Our History

Number 48 Richmond Hill was built as the family home of Sir John Houblon, the first Governor of the Bank of England.

The grounds originally extended along what is now Ellerker Gardens as far as Onslow Road and down the hill to the Vineyard. Much of this land now contains houses in which many of our parents live. As a school we trace our heritage back to 1881 when Ellerker College, a boarding school for older girls, first occupied the premises.

In the early 20th century, the newly founded Old Vicarage School moved from small premises in Chiswick to our current site and we became a prep school with boys in the younger classes, before becoming an all-girls school shortly before the war. The school acquired the adjoining building, where Celia Johnson the actress was born,  to provide additional classrooms. The girls have the privilege of being educated in a Grade 2* listed, architecturally beautiful building with a charm of its own.

With the exception of a few years during WWII, when the school was evacuated to Pipers Corner in Buckinghamshire, the Old Vicarage has been educating young girls from the Richmond area.

Alumni include Hayley Mills, Michael Attenborough and Jemima Goldsmith.