Headington Girls’ School
Above and below: Postcards showing Headington School around the time it opened in 1930
(In the 1980s a large wing was added on to each side)
The school occupied a series of five large houses in Headington before settling on its present site:
- The school originally opened in Headington Lodge on Osler Road (then called Manor Road) on 20 September 1915 with just ten boarding and eight day girls
- In 1916 Headington School took over Napier House in Pullen’s Lane (built in 1892 for Professor Arthur Napier), and from then until 1930 it was occupied by the junior section of the school. The building has now been renamed Cotuit Hall and isoccupied by the EF Academy UK boarding school
- Also in 1916 the large private house called Brookside on the London Road was taken over by the school, and thereafter White Lodge was only as a boarding house. The school confusingly renamed it Napier House in 1930 when they moved out of the original Headington house with that name. This building was occupied by Headington School’s preparatory department until 2024
- In 1920 pupil numbers had reached 70, and Davenport House (on the corner of London Road and Pullen’s Lane) was also taken over by the school. This house had a two-acre garden and another 19 acres of farmland attached stretching as far east as the White Horse pub. Eventually this became the site of the present main school (although part of the estate was purchased by the council for the construction of Headley Way)
- In 1921 the school took over Hillstow (later Dorset House) on the London Road.
Headington School was founded in 1915 by an Oxford group of evangelical Christians as an independent school to provide “a sound education for girls to fit them for the demands and opportunities likely to arise after the war”. The Oxford Chronicle of 24 September 1915, page 7 has an article entitled “New School for Girls at Headington”, and reports that the original school in Osler Road had been opened by the Bishop of Liverpool the preceding Monday, and that it was intended for “the daughters of university, professional, and other gentlemen, and is open to boarders and day students”.
The daughter of C. S. Lewis's landlady/companion Mrs Janie Moore, Maureen, went to Headington School, and C. S. Lewis wrote to his brother in April 1921 describing how he attended a show there, “sneaking in alone a whimsical and unobserved male among miles of petticoat”.
The present school is in the in the neo-Georgian style. It is usually stated to have been jointly designed by Gilbert T. Gardner and Thomas Rayson, but Rayson used to say that “Gardner's only actual designing was to insist on vases on the roof”. It was built by Benfield & Loxley and opened by Princess Mary on 21 June 1930.
A review of the school in 1935 stated:
Headington School, Oxford.
Head Mistress:—Miss M. Moller, M.A. OxonHEADINGTON SCHOOL is a Public School for girls, taking both Boarders and Day pupils. The School was founded in 1915, and is now working in its new and well-equipped buildings, which were opened by The Princess Royal, in June, 1930.
Boarding Houses, and a self-contained Junior School, which provides for girls under 12 and for boys under 9.
Prospectus and all particulars may be had on application to the Head Mistress
Chiang Yee in The Silent Traveller in Oxford (1944) describes the school as having an “atmosphere of spacious dignity”.
By 1947 there were over 300 girls at the school.
In 1985 there were 500 girls in the senior school (about half of them boarders) and 130 in the preparatory department on the other side of the main road.
Above: the extensive school grounds on a postcard dating from the 1930s.
Below: the first school gym
An early advertisement for the new school read:
HEADINGTON SCHOOL is a Public School for girls, taking both Boarders and Day pupils. The School was founded in 1915, and has just moved into its new and well-equipped buildings, which were opened by H.R.H. Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood, in June, 1930.
In addition to the School building, which stands in its own Playing Fields of 21 acres, there are three Senior Boarding Houses, and a self-contained Junior School, which provides for girls under 12 and for boys under 9.
Girls are prepared for the usual Public Examinations and University Entrance.
Prospectus and all particulars may be had on application to the Head Mistress.
The school motto since 1915 has been Αγωνίζου τον καλόν αγώνα της πίστεως, which means “Fight the good fight of Faith” (1 Timothy: 6:12).
The aerial photograph below shows Headington School in 1936. Notice how Headley Way stops short as soon as it reaches the school grounds and does not yet reach the Headington/London Road. Behind the school grounds on the left are Brookside Nurseries (now the site of Franklin Road).
In September 2024 Headington School and the adjacent Rye St Antony Roman Catholic School were amalgamated. The combined school was known briefly as Headington Rye, but on 10 April 2026 its company name was changed from "Headington Rye Oxford Limited" back to "Headington School Oxford Limited", and it is now once again Headington School.
In September 2024 Headington School (23 acres) was amalgamated with the adjacent Rye St Antony Roman Catholic School (12 acres), and Headington School's prep department (for girls and boys aged 3–11) is now located on the former Rye St Antony site.
For 1½ years the combined school was named Headington Rye, but on 10 April 2026 its company name was changed from "Headington Rye Oxford Limited" to "Headington School Oxford Limited", and the whole 35 acre site is now known as Headington School.
