Hazlegrove Preparatory School, Yeovil,Somerset, UK

The school’s history reaches back in time to 1519 during the reign of Henry VIII and as part of the King’s School, Bruton Foundation, Hazlegrove is part of an educational lineage which spans nearly five centuries.
The school was founded by Richard Fitzjames (Bishop of London) and his nephew John Fitzjames of Redlynch (later to become Chief Justice of the King’s Bench) whose family crest incorporated the bearded dolphin which remains part of our school crest today.
After only twenty years of existence, the school was closed with the dissolution of the Monastries resulting with the surrender of the Abbey including all the endowments of the school to the King (Henry VIII until 1547, and then Edward VI, his son). For ten years the school ceased to exist until a „humble petition” was presented to Edward VI requesting him to restore the endowments of the school. This was granted with the school being called the Free Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth. This Royal Foundation led to a crown being placed above the dolphin on the school crest.
The original endowments of the school were re-granted to a Corporation that was to consist of twelve governors. Indeed, we believe we may be the first school ever to have a Governing Body with an unbroken record of the proceedings of the meetings of the Governors dating back to 1553.
The Junior School was moved to Hazlegrove House, after the Second World War in 1947, to be able to satisfy the increasing demand for places. Today, about half of the pupils leaving Hazlegrove continue their education at King’s which is also co-educational and situated within the attractive town of Bruton, nine miles to the North East of Hazlegrove.