Originally a grammar school called Leyton County High School for Girls, the buildings at the junction of Colworth Road and Forest Road on the edge of Epping Forest were opened in 1911; girls were transferred there from the private Elson House Girls High School in Wallwood Road and from the mixed Leyton and Leytonstone high schools.[3] The school was built on the site of Forest Farm and was designed in the Tudor style by William Jacques ARIBA, who was the architect for the Leyton Urban District Council.[4]