It is situated on Birchfield Road (B5419) between the districts of Farnworth (to the north) and Appleton (to the south) and opposite Victoria Park.

The school was named after Sir Henry Wade-Deacon CBE, Chairman of Lancashire County Council for four years until January 1931, and was one of seven sons of Henry Deacon, an important local industrialist of the United Alkali Company (now Ineos) and friend of Michael Faraday.

The grand-designed building was made of Ravenhead and multi-coloured rustic bricks with stone dressings.

It opened as a single mixed grammar school in September 1931 with grounds of 40 acres (160,000 m2).

In August 2010, the nearby Fairfield High School, Widnes closed due to a decreasing number of student admissions.

To deal with the increased number of enrolled students, the school received a £25m refurbishment, with significant expansions made to the original 1931 building.