Marlborough Hall

Marlborough was, in 1968, the first major British independent boys' school to allow girls into the sixth form, setting a trend that many other schools followed. The school became fully co-educational in 1989, and made a major contribution to the School Mathematics Project (from 1961) alongside initiating the teaching of its Business Studies programme (from 1968). In 1963 a group of boys, led by the future political biographer Ben Pimlott, wrote a book, Marlborough, an open examination written by the boys, describing life at the boarding institute. The writer and television critic T. C. Worsley wrote about predatory old masters at the school in his critically acclaimed autobiography…

The college is built beside the Mound, at the site of a former Norman castle. No remains of the castle can be seen today, though the radiocarbon dating of core samples in the early 2010s indicated that the origins of the Mound date from 2400 BC. This is close to the dates established for Silbury Hill. The main focus of the college is the Court, which is surrounded by buildings in a number of architectural styles. At the south end is the back of an early 18th-century mansion, later converted to a coaching inn, which was bought as the first building for the school. The main block of what now forms C House, it was built by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset and is a Grade I listed building.…

The Memorial Hall was built to commemorate the 749 Old Marlburians who were killed in World War I. Following World War II, the names of those killed in that war were added to a memorial panel in the entrance hall. The hall is a semi-circular auditorium of stepped seats. There is a stage at the front. Below the seats with access from the outside rear are a number of music practice rooms. The façade of the hall towards the forecourt and road has two entrance lobbies linked together by eight stone columns. The forecourt is paved with stone. The Hall holds about 800 people so can no longer be used for assemblies of the entire school. It is now most often used for concerts and theatrical…