An academy was started in Kibworth around 1715, and moved at some point to Market Harborough, where Philip Doddridge was chosen as its principal.
In 1752 the academy was moved to Daventry, back to Northampton, then to Wymondley, and finally in 1833 to London.
When the school returned to Northampton in 1789, it was run by John Horsey with various assistant tutors.
The school, which was supposed to teach an Arian Christology, was probably closed due to growing Socinian influence in the Northampton Academy.
He continued his intense study; this, together with the liberal atmosphere of the school, shifted his theology further leftward and he became a Rational Dissenter.