Forest School is an private day school in Walthamstow in the London borough of Waltham Forest. The school occupies a large campus around its original Grade II listed Georgian and Victorian terraced buildings. The school has more than 1,430 pupils, aged 4 to 18, split equally between boys and girls. History Foundation and the first two decades The earliest buildings at the front of the school date from the eighteenth century, when the site consisted of brick kilns and adjoining cottages owned by Thomas Skingle, a brick maker. In 1830 Exeter College was established there by William Oram, however it was unsuccessful and by 1833 had closed down. However, this did not deter the owner, Archibald du Boulay, and following a meeting at his house on 17 February 1834 it was decided to try again, and thus the idea of Forest Proprietary Grammar School was launched. The owners of the new school were mainly local dignitaries, their President was William Taylor Copeland, and they recruited Rev. Thomas Dry as the first headmaster. The school opened on 1 October 1834 with 22 pupils. Walthamstow had a very rural setting at this time before the railway opened in 1870, but the school's location on the Snaresbrook Road and Woodford New Road coaching routes to London gave it good links to the city. The school prospered in its first few years, and before the end of the decade had 80 pupils, the majority being boarders. The School Library opened in 1836, making it the longest surviving Forest institution. The 1840s were a difficult decade for the school, with pupil numbers falling and rising costs. It is not clear exactly what caused this, but there were complaints of brutality and neglect, and it was decided to close the school in 1844. However the new headmaster Mr J. F. Boyes was determined it should be saved, and he was able to stave off the school's closure during his time in charge (1844-1848). By the time Mr Boyes came into a fortune in 1848 and therefore moved on from Forest, it is clear his efforts had stabilised the school's position. In 1848, Forest's third headmaster was John Gilderdale, who put the school firmly on its feet and laid the foundations for it to be one of the most successful nineteenth-century schools. It was during Gilderdale's time in charge that "In Pectore Robur" became the school's motto.