It was founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748, and is the world's oldest Methodist educational institution.

It owns the Kingswood Preparatory School, the Upper and Middle Playing Fields and a number of other buildings.

[2] The ministers in the early Methodist Church were itinerant and the school started to accept their children as boarders.

[7] It is in the midst of 218 acres (0.88 km2) of the former Lansdown estate of the nineteenth-century millionaire eccentric, William Thomas Beckford.

[8] The Upper Playing Fields, comprising some 57 acres, are to the north of the senior school and include an athletics track and tennis and netball courts.

During World War II the younger boys were moved to Prior's Court, an estate owned by Colonel Gerald Palmer, MP for Winchester.

The composer John Sykes was a teacher at the school from 1936, and was Director of Music from 1952 until his death ten years later.

Delegates attend from schools worldwide to engage in debates around a range of pressing international issues.

The School is currently in the process of planting of many new trees and are planning a new energy system using solar and wind power.

This new institution inherited some of the traditions of its counterpart in Bath, including the School's crest, motto, colours and distinctive symbol, the Wyvern.

Notable former students include: Two Old Kingswoodians have been awarded the Victoria Cross: Media related to Kingswood School, Bath at Wikimedia Commons