In 854AD, documents record a settlement known as Hardenhuish on the north-west side of Chippenham; the name probably derives from the family landholding of one Herejeard.

[3] The medieval manor house and church were on the flat land which now forms playing fields shared between Hardenhuish and Sheldon schools.

Dedicated to Saint Nicholas, it was designed by the famous Bath architect John Wood and is supposed to contain recycled material from the earlier church.

These features, alongside the neo-classical architecture of the house, act as an educational resource used by the school's history department.

[7] The ownership of Hardenhuish passed to his daughter Anne, who was married to John Hawkins of Kelston, near Bath.

In 1822, Thomas Clutterbuck, who had land and business interests in both Gloucestershire and Bradford on Avon, bought the Hardenhuish estate from George Hawkins.

Henrietta, a daughter of the economist and MP David Ricardo, married Thomas Clutterbuck in 1814 in London, and he subsequently became well acquainted with the family.

From 1875 there was a private venture grammar school in Chippenham, conducted in St. Mary Street by a Mr. Wilson and from 1883 by Mr.

Earlier voluntary classes that had existed were now coordinated, and this became the beginning of a national system of technical education.

Subjects included Shorthand, Animal Physiology, Chemistry, Physics, Hygiene, Carpentry and Dressmaking.

Tuck, in addition, gave talks on Wiltshire history and nature study, he also served as town councillor and was Mayor of Chippenham from 1931 to 1932.

The curriculum included Latin, French, Science, History, Geography, Grammar, Book-keeping, Shorthand, Arithmetic, Writing, Geometry and Freehand Drawing.

In 1906, Sir Gabriel Goldney, 2nd Baronet, CVO, CB of Hardenhuish Park became Sheriff of Wiltshire.

In addition to the yearly fees paid by pupils, the school was financed by County and Government grants.

In 1935, when pupil numbers had reached 288, Hardenhuish Park was purchased from the Clutterbuck family by Wiltshire County Council in order to implement the educational requirements of the growing town.

In September 1939, the Secondary Grammar School formally moved from Cocklebury Road to new buildings (since demolished), erected on the east side of Hardenhuish House.

The new school extended over 40 acres of Hardenhuish Park, and the new buildings contained a hall, gymnasium, laboratories, classrooms, and cloakrooms.

In late 1940, early 1941 the school at Hardenhuish took in a large number of evacuees from Wanstead, East London, who had already spent a year in Gloucester.

Some of the Nissen huts used by the American soldiers were repurposed as classrooms, while others housed relocated families from blitzed areas.

In 1956, with pupil number at 547, (102 of these in the Sixth Form), constant growth of the area saw the major development of a new secondary modern school for girls to the south of Hardenhuish Church.

[22] In 1958, a field was purchased at the Folly to enable an approach road to be made to serve the new secondary schools.

In 1959, a secondary modern, Chippenham Boys' High School, was constructed lower down Hardenhuish Park.

In 1960, more Grammar School buildings were erected behind Hardenhuish House due to the continual growth of Chippenham.

The three schools occupied some 40 acres of Hardenhuish Park and some 2,000 boys and girls attended from the Borough and from the district within a radius of about 8 miles.

[24] Hardenhuish received the tenth highest A-level average results for comprehensives in Wiltshire at the end of the 2009/2010 school year.

Prior to the move to the Hardenhuish site, the head teacher of Chippenham Grammar School from 1893 until 1929 was Edward Newell Tuck.

[14] [28][29] Head teacher of Chippenham Grammar School, at the Cocklebury Road site, from 1929 until 1932 was Scottish-born Henry Samuel Rosen.

[30] Head teacher of Chippenham Grammar School from 1932 until 1935 was Basil Alais Fletcher, who left when appointed Chair of Education at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia.

[34][35][36] Head teacher of Chippenham Grammar School from 1939, when it moved to the Hardenhuish site, until 1961 was Sydney Farrar.

[22][40] After Cassia Denne retired, the head teacher of Chippenham Girls' Secondary Modern School from 1966 onwards was Miss M Wilkins.