It was established in Battersea in 1875 by the Sir Walter St John Trust and moved to larger premises in Streatham in 1936.

The joint history dates back to the late 1660s, when Sir Walter St John, 3rd Baronet founded a school on his estate at Battersea.

"[1] The scholars were "to be elected and putt into the said schoole in a mannere hereinafter mentioned to read write and to cast accounts.

"[2] The establishment of Battersea Grammar as a separate school was prompted by the changes resulting from the Elementary Education Act 1870.

There was considerable debate as to how best to proceed, but eventually a proposal for a new trust scheme, under the Endowed Schools Act 1869, was put before Parliament and approved at a meeting of the Privy Council on the 9 August 1873.

The appointment of William H. Bindley as headmaster in 1880 or 1881 (sources disagree) turned matters around in both the quality of education and pupil numbers, which increased from 48 in 1881 to 160 by 1891.

Although there had been earlier proposals to move, a decision was not made until 1935, when the LCC offered a site on Abbotswood Road in Streatham.

Since 1994 the Abbotswood Road site has been the home of the Senior Department (sixth form) of the Streatham and Clapham High School.