George Basevi designed the Hall in the Early Tudor style in 1836, "with mullioned windows and a cross above the central gable", and the Marquess of Bristol donated nine acres of land to build the school.

Built by Thomas Shelbourne in Early English style, it has an 1860 memorial window and monument to the Marquess of Bristol.

[6] In 1877, the Handbook for Travellers to Sussex described the school as "an excellent institution for education orphan daughters of clergymen as governesses, on payment of £20 per annum".

[9] Eventually, St Mary's Hall, Brighton, was merged with Roedean School in 2009 due to "economic circumstances" that "left it with no choice but to close and end 173 years of independence".

[11] Roedean sold the buildings to Royal Sussex County Hospital to serve as temporary facilities for departments displaced during its redevelopment project.