They located it sufficiently distant of London at that time, because of "dangers both physical and moral awaiting youth while passing through the streets of a large, crowded and corrupt city".

[citation needed] In 1746 Collinson planted Britain's first hydrangea on the grounds, now located adjacent to School House.

The estate was purchased by the botanist Richard Salisbury in 1802, Ridgeway House became the setting for a long-running scientific dispute between the new owner and his guest, James Edward Smith.

[6] The flora of Mill Hill was supplemented by the work of the amateur botanist Richard William Bowry Buckland (died 1947), governor of the foundation from 1878 to 1889, who cultivated a garden in the south-west of the school's grounds for the enjoyment of future generations.

A St Bees Association was founded in commemoration of this period of evacuation in the school's history by Michael Berry and David Smith.

[10] Each school was required to pay a nominal penalty of £10,000, and all agreed to make ex-gratia payments totalling three million pounds into a trust.

To mark the occasion, the school was granted a new coat of arms by Robert Noel, Her Majesty's Lancaster Herald.

In it, she was shown nude in the changing room showers, dancing on tables in classrooms, and smoking marijuana in the dormitories.