The Hall School is an independent boys' preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 in Belsize Park

Belsize Park

Belsize Park is an area of north-west London, England, in the London Borough of Camden.It is located north-west of Charing Cross and situated on the Northern Line. It borders Hampstead to the north and west, Kentish Town and Gospel Oak to the east, Camden Town to the south east and Primrose Hill...

, Hampstead

Hampstead

Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...

, London, currently teaching boys from the age of four to thirteen.

Description

The school is known for high academic standards. According to The Good Schools Guide

The Good Schools Guide

The Good Schools Guide is a guide to British schools .- Overview :The guide is compiled by a team of editors, which according to the official website "comprises some 50 editors, writers, researchers and contributors; mostly parents but some former headteachers." The website states that it is...

, the school "remains confidently the top north London prep school for those looking towards the country's top academic secondary schools."

The School is perhaps most famous, at least in the local area, for its pink uniform

Uniform

A uniform is a set of standard clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, security guards, in some workplaces and schools and by inmates...

 consisting originally of a pink school blazer and cap. Alumni will recognise the feelings of boys expressed by food critic

Food critic

The terms food critic, food writer, and restaurant critic can all be used to describe a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings. While these terms are not strictly synonymous they are often used interchangeably, at least in some circumstances...

 and old boy Giles Coren

Giles Coren

Giles Coren is a British food critic, television presenter and novelist. He is known for expressing controversial opinions, and for his television appearances with the comedian Sue Perkins.-Personal:...

 in his January 2010 article in The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

.

History

The school originated as Belsize School, founded in 1889 by the Revd. Francis John Wrottesley, who with his wife had taken fee-paying pupils at their home in nearby 18 Buckland Crescent since 1881. The Wrottesleys sold their school in 1898 to the Revd. D. H. Marshall, who took over an adjoining house in 1903, when there were 58 boys, including 10 boarders. In 1905 Marshall bought the Allen Olney girls' school, which his wife continued at Buckland Crescent. Marshall moved the boys to Crossfield Road and renamed the school The Hall. The roll was over 100 in 1909, when he sold the school to G. H. Montauban. It prepared boys aged 5 to 13 for public schools and won many scholarships. Montauban bought Woodcote at 69 Belsize Park, at the corner of Buckland Crescent, in 1916 and opened it in 1917 for boys under 8. The school was recognized from 1919, when Montauban sold the Hall to R. T. Gladstone, retaining the junior school until 1923. In the 1920s the roll increased from 60 to 270. In 1935 ownership passed to a private company. The main building was extended in 1935 and the junior school in 1938. The roll fell to 45 in 1940 but under a new company rose to 170 in 1942. The junior school, evacuated in 1939, reopened in 1942 with 35 boys. The school became a charitable trust in 1952. In 1951 there were 302 boys aged 5 to 15, including 30 boarders, but boarding ceased between 1967 and 1974. In 1983 the school prepared up to 320 boys for public schools.