Cranbrook is located about 40 miles from London and for over 450 years the school has occupied the same site and has grown from the original building to its present 70 acres in the town of Cranbrook.

Cranbrook School was founded ca. 1520 under the will of John Blubery who bequeathed his own mansion to William Lynch with the request that the property be used to found a school for the poorer children of the town. Upon William Lynch’s death Simon Lynch (his son), after a long drawn out legal battle, won the property over the Parish and continued to run the school. In May of 1574 Queen Elizabeth visited Cranbrook and granted charter of the school to the Parish on May 8th, 1574.

Between 1574 and 1860 the school continued to grow and expand. From 1860 to 1888 the school grew from approximately 60 boys to 170. In 1888 the Great Depression hit and the numbers dropped back down to 60 boys. In 1929 C. Russell Scott was appointed as headmaster and began to turn the school around. By 1960, the school was servicing nearly 250 pupils and had nearly doubled the number the buildings.

In July 1939 a party of l Master and 11 boys from Cranbrook School in Michigan visited Cranbrook School in Kent. G.G. Booth whose father emigrated from Cranbrook, Kent founded Cranbrook School, U.S.A. in 1927.

Today, Cranbrook School is a voluntary aided non-denominational boarding and day co-educational grammar school catering for pupils in the top 25% of the ability range aged from 13 to 18.

Cranbrook School is well known in the South East, with its population of some 720 pupils aged between 13 and 18 (Years 9 to 13 in the National Curriculum). It is fully co-educational (400 boys, 320 girls) and has 240 boarding places for boys and girls.