An independent school in the City of London dating back to at least 1542. Operated by the Worshipful Company of Mercers.
In 1542 the Mercers’ Company purchased the site of the Hospital of St Thomas of Acon on Cheapside from Henry VIII. The school of the Hospital was one of the three great medieval schools of London at the time of the Dissolution. By agreement with the King the Mercers continued the School of the Hospital as a free grammar school for twenty-five children "for ever".
In 1666 the Great Fire destroyed Mercers' Hall and the School, though the frontage of the Hall is now in ). In 1672 a building was opened for the School on the site of St Mary Colechurch, which itself had been lost in the fire. In 1784 the School moved to Budge Row and then to a house in Watling Street until 1804 when the School moved to Red Lion Court. It moved to College Hill c.1805, and to the Barnard's Inn site (where the plaques are) in 1894. In 1959 it was decided that the premises had become inadequate to fulfil the educational requirements at that time; rebuilding elsewhere proved financially impossible and the school closed.
Source of information: , .
This image shows the School in College Hill, c.1830, with St Michael's Paternoster Royal in the background.
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