The school was founded in 1542 in accordance with the will of William Dauntesey, a master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers.

[5] In summer 2000 Dauntsey crews took part in The Tall Ships' Race, which took her across the Atlantic.

[citation needed] Jolie Brise also won the Tall Ships Race in 2015 and again in 2016.

[6] The school was founded in accordance with the will of alderman William Dauntesey, master of the Worshipful Company of Mercers.

He gave the Mercers' Company lands in London so that they could build a schoolhouse for a grammar school at West Lavington and also support seven poor persons in an almshouse, within the same charity.

In 1868, a schools inquiry commission noted that "By ancient custom, the owner of the Dauntesey estate at West Lavington, now Lord Churchill, appoints".

Ponting and in May 1895 Joseph Chamberlain officially opened them and inaugurated Dauntsey's Agricultural School.

At that time it fulfilled the role that the County Agricultural Colleges fill today, the latter partly sponsored by the state.

The school continues a wide range of building and expansion projects to this day, including the recent building of the Upper School girls' day houses, and a re-vamp of the sports hall.

Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000 and they all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling £3 million into a trust designed to benefit pupils who attended the schools during the period in respect of which fee information was shared.