The school was founded by Mother Cornelia Connelly, S.H.C.J., in 1872, with the oldest buildings dating from the 14th century.

[1] Mother Cornelia Connelly of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus chanced upon the Old Palace at the village of Mayfield.

During the Reformation, it was handed over to King Henry VIII who gave it to several leading noblemen of his day.

[4] The school has a fourteenth century chapel built for the Archbishops of Canterbury and a concert hall designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus still runs a network of schools across its three provinces: Europe, Africa and America.