On 29^th September 1519, in the Chapter House of Bruton Abbey, Richard Fitzjames, John Fitzjames and Dr John Edmondes, three distinguished men who were born in Bruton, granted land and properties to the Abbot, William Gilbert, for the purpose of founding a Free School in Bruton. These endowments included the Manor of Blynfield near Shaftesbury, a share in the Manor of Furneaux in Warminster, and a School House, together with other properties, in Bruton.

Following the dissolution of Bruton Abbey in 1539, all properties belonging to the Abbey, including the School’s endowments, fell into the hands of King Henry VIII, and the School effectively ceased to exist. Following the death of Henry VIII, a ‘humble petition and pious supplication’ signed by many local citizens was presented to King Edward VI, requesting the return of the School’s endowments. This he graciously granted, ordaining, in a Re-Foundation Charter, that ‘henceforth there shall be one free Grammar School in the town of Bruton, which shall be called the Free Grammar School of King Edward the Sixth.’ The Charter also laid down that there were to be 12 Governors appointed to oversee the management of the School, thereby creating one of the first School Governing Bodies.

On 6^th April 1566, the Governors met and drew up rules and regulations for the guidance of the Governors and the Master. These provided the framework for life in the School for the next 250 years. The School’s fortunes fluctuated throughout these years, with periods of dispute involving the Governors and the Master, and pupil numbers ranged from a high of 50 to lows of single figures.

The relationship between the Governors and the Master did not improve when Edward Michell was appointed Master in 1769, and disputes rumbled on. In 1792 Mr Michell published a pamphlet outlining his complaints, and this acrimonious relationship continued until Mr Michell’s death in 1799. He was succeeded by William Cosens but affairs did not improve, and by the time he was persuaded to retire in 1826, the number of pupils in the School had fallen to four. Indeed, in 1811 there was just one pupil, William Chubb.

The appointment of the Rev'd John Hoskyns-Abrahall as Master on 15^th June 1826 marked the beginning of a period of prosperity and success for the School. He inherited a School near to collapse, but through his energy and vision, he transformed its prospects. He built, at his own expense, a large extension to the School House, comprising a school room and dormitory above, as well as an open Fives court, and a tower beside the river. During his 38-year headship, the School became, for the first time, a serious, academic institution, with religious education and the classics the bedrock of the curriculum. Many pupils went on to university and to follow distinguished careers. During his Headship, the number of pupils rose - reaching a record of 60 boys at one point. He retired in 1864.

In 1873, the Rev'd David Evans Norton was elected Master, and early in January 1874 he moved into the newly built Headmaster’s House, which in due course became ‘New House’, a second boarding house for boys, alongside the original Schoolhouse, ‘Old House’. He introduced a welcome stability in the School’s affairs, and he was succeeded by his son, also named David Evans Norton, in 1890.

Under the energetic leadership of David Evans Norton (junior), the School developed hugely. A School magazine, titled ‘The Dolphin’, was launched in 1892, and the Old Brutonian Association was formed in 1893. A pavilion was built on Abbey, and in 1902 a Junior School was opened in Plox House, and various facilities - notably Fives courts, swimming bath, and the Wyndham building classrooms - were added to the School estate.

A large Hall, with the capacity to accommodate the whole school, together with several classrooms and a library, was planned to celebrate the 400^th anniversary of the School’s foundation in 1519 but also to commemorate the 56 Old Brutonians who were killed in the 1st World War. The foundation stone was laid in June 1919.  

It took five years for the Memorial Buildings to be completed, in no small part thanks to James Lyon, an Old Brutonian, whose seemingly endless generosity played a key role in the School’s development over a period of 50 years. Also in that year, the pavilion on Hyde was built, another of James Lyon’s gifts. He had bought Hyde Field in 1914 and overseen its conversion into a fine cricket field, with the first match played on it in 1917. 

In 1936, Tom Tremlett, Head of History at King’s, and son of the Headmaster Charles Tremlett, was cataloguing the various manuscripts that the School owned when he came across what appeared to be a copy of the Magna Carta issued in 1297. How it came to be in the School’s possession is still uncertain. An exhibition of the Archives in 1950, when the School was celebrating its 400^th anniversary, brought the manuscript to the attention of the Governors who decided that they would explore the possibility of selling it to provide much needed funds for the School. Eventually, it was sold to the Australian Government in Canberra where it is proudly displayed for all to see. The proceeds of the sale enabled a 4^th boarding house to be built, on Hyde - Lyon House.

Despite many difficulties, the School expanded very substantially during the 2^nd World War and the years of austerity that followed, with three new boarding houses, Priory (1943), Lyon (1954) and Blackford (1960), added to accommodate the growth in the number of pupils, from about 130 in the years immediately before the War to about 250 ten years later.   

 
The Junior School in Plox House had been overcrowded for several years, with many of the boarders having to be found accommodation in the Rectory and other private houses in the town. A search for an alternative site for the School was undertaken, and Major Nuttall, a Governor of King’s, offered the lease of Hazlegrove House in Sparkford and this was accepted. The School opened there in September 1947, and since then it has thrived. 

By the 1960s, the School had grown to over 350 boys at the Senior School, and in 1969 girls were introduced into the School’s 6^th Form for the first time, with Wellesley House becoming the first girls’ house in 1984. In 1997 King’s went fully co-educational, with the opening of Arion House for girls from the age of 13. 

In the 21^st century, King’s Bruton has gone from strength to strength, especially over the past decade. 2019 saw the 500^th Anniversary of the Foundation of the School, and the highlight of this year of celebration was on 28^th March when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II came to open the exceptional, new Queen Elizabeth Music School.  

In 2023, James Lyon’s cricket pavilion on Hyde, built in 1924 and therefore about to celebrate its 100^th birthday, and now known as the Sir Peter Squire Pavilion, has been transformed to provide an outstanding venue for hospitality, with a fine extension offering first-class changing facilities. Sir Peter Squire Old Brutonian and father of three further OBs, led a most distinguished career in the RAF before becoming a Governor and Senior Warden at King’s.