In 1799, Colonel John Le Marchant submitted a proposal to the Duke of York, the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces, for a Royal Military College.

A private officer training school, based on the idea of a senior or staff department in the proposed college, was opened in the same year by Colonel Le Marchant, at the Antelope Inn, High Wycombe, and designated the Royal Military College, High Wycombe, with himself as commandant.

Proper entry and final examinations had been introduced for the primarily military subjects taught.

Purpose-built premises were approved in 1858 and built between 1859 and 1863 to a design by James Pennethorne, adjacent to the Royal Military College (but over the county boundary in Camberley).

[3] With the threat of a second war with Germany, the college was expanded and restructured in 1938, with a junior wing at Camberley for officers of an average age of 29 years, and a senior wing at Minley Manor, Farnborough, for graduates of the school returned for further training, and aged about 35 years.