Merchant Taylors’ School, established in 1561 in London, is a public day school for boys aged 11 to 18. Throughout its history, the school has moved between several campuses, and since 1933, it has been based at Sandy Lodge, a sprawling 285-acre site near Northwood in Hertfordshire. Currently, the school serves 1,100 students and, after merging with Northwood Prep School in 2015, now provides education from age 3 to 18.
The school was founded by Sir Thomas White, Sir Richard Hilles, Emanuel Lucar, and Stephen Hales. It was one of the nine English public schools reviewed by the Clarendon Commission in 1861. However, Merchant Taylors’ successfully argued for its exclusion from the Public Schools Act of 1868, much like St Paul’s School, London, another day school reviewed by the Commission.