For 130 years, Glendower has been shaping the minds and characters of young women, a tradition that began in 1895 with the vision and determination of two remarkable Victorian pioneers, Miss Edith Lloyd and Miss Maud Cornwell. These visionary women were determined to provide an academic education for girls, in a time when doing so was an act of rebellion against the traditional focus on domestic skills and ‘accomplishments’ that might ready girls for marriage. With just three pupils, Lloyd and Cornwell opened the school in two modest rooms above a furniture shop on Fulham Road, sharing the building with a bustling hatter and a motor car company.

In 1904, the growing school found a new home at 5–7 Glendower Place, proudly taking the name that still endures today. Sixteen years later, another chapter began at 25–27 Cromwell Road.

When the Second World War arrived, the school’s spirit proved unshakable. In 1939, Glendower relocated to the White Hart Hotel in Launceston, Devon, ensuring that learning – and the sense of community – never faltered. In 1947, the school settled into its current residence at 87 Queen’s Gate, a place it has continued to expand and enrich over the decades.

From its humble beginnings, through wars, social change, and an age of extraordinary innovation, Glendower’s heart has remained the same: a commitment to inspiring girls with the courage, curiosity, and values of its intrepid founders. Today, those same ideals continue to guide us, as we prepare our pupils for a future every bit as remarkable as their past.