for girls to the south of Hardenhuish Church On 28 September, the new Girls' High School opened. These buildings now form part of Hardenhuish School. The Headmistress, Miss Edith Denne, had 486 pupils in her charge. In 1958, a field was purchased at the Folly to enable an approach road to be made to serve the new secondary schools. Chippenham Boys' High School In 1959, a secondary modern, Chippenham Boys' High School, was constructed lower down Hardenhuish Park. These buildings now form part of Sheldon School. In 1960, more Grammar School buildings were erected behind Hardenhuish House due to the continual growth of Chippenham. The school began to admit 120 instead of 90 each year. The three schools occupied some 40 acres of Hardenhuish Park and some 2,000 boys and girls attended from the Borough and from the district within a radius of about 8 miles. In 1966, the Grammar School and the Girls' High School integrated with the Chippenham Secondary Modern Schools in a semi-comprehensive system with all 11- to 13-year-old boys and girls being educated on the Hardenhuish site. Comprehensive In 1975, the three existing schools were merged into two comprehensive schools, under the names Hardenhuish and Sheldon. Hardenhuish was made up of the old Grammar School and Girls' High School buildings, spanning right across the old Hardenhuish estate and comprising seven blocks. The 1975 Chippenham development plan stated, "Two mixed 8 form entry comprehensive schools each to accommodate 1,200 pupils aged 11 to 18, with 200 in each school sixth form additionally, to be formed on the campus at Hardenhuish by merging the existing three schools. The Boys’ High School to have additional classrooms and accommodation for girls. The Girls’ High School and the Chippenham School to be merged into one school". Hardenhuish would serve the northern and western areas of Chippenham and adjacent villages. Sheldon would take pupils from the southern and eastern areas of the town and adjacent villages. In September 1975 Hardenhuish School opened as a comprehensive school in the Grammar School and Girls’ High School buildings, and renamed to reflect the school having become coeducational. A £2 million capital building project over the last decade has transformed the learning environment. Completed in 2003, the new Technology Centre began the first phase, soon followed by the new Sports Hall with climbing wall, the new English and Performing Arts Centre, and the extensively redeveloped Science