Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the Grade II*-listed main building, which stands on a 34-acre (140,000 m²) Amesbury was ISI Inspected in September 2017 and was awarded 'Excellent' within every category.

One of the first things he did was to help design the school chapel, which built during the summer holidays and dedicated on 2 October 1938 in the name of St Francis, by the Right Reverend J.V.

The wooden paneling covering the walls of the chancel was completed in 1942 and was a gift to the school from General Sir Bernard Montgomery and his son, David, who had been a pupil since 1936.

King George V1 gave Montgomery his consent to allow the Amesbury Chapel Choir to wear scarlet cassocks.

[8] A plaque was put on the door of his room in the headmaster's house with the 21st Army Group sign and it was here and in the summerhouse in the remembrance garden that he was visited by his staff and generals.

Realising how important it was that he should not, like Churchill, disappoint his generals, Monty decided to go down to Amesbury for a few days [the first week of April 1944].

[citation needed] After a long period of good pupil numbers and a virtually unchanged staff, changes began to happen.

Peel was himself reaching an age when he could reasonably think of retiring and there had been one or two abortive attempts to find a suitable successor to take over the school.

By May the £25,000 minimum required had been assured by interest free loans and donations: the school became an Educational Trust and a board of governors was appointed, with Peel continuing as headmaster until a replacement could be found.

With numbers steadily increasing, the school was back on a sound financial footing and the governors felt able to start some much needed improvements.