[1] The school is situated on Upper Brentwood Road about 400 metres north of Gidea Park railway station, and approximately halfway between Gidea Park and Ardleigh Green to the north-east of Romford.

[2] The school was founded in 1921 in the buildings at the grounds of Hare Hall and takes its name from the Royal Liberty of Havering.

The Royal Liberty was the first school in Europe to install an electronic computer (an Elliott 903, similar to the 920 military version) in 1965.

They are now known as Discovery, Challenger, Endeavour, Voyager and Apollo to reflect the school's status as a Science College.

The plan is to change Apollo to Hawk, Challenger to Eagle, Discovery to Osprey Endeavour to Kestrel and Voyager to Falcon.