In 2006, The Old Hall School, a distinct preparatory school that had existed since 1835, merged with Wrekin College. While they operated as a single trust and shared a campus, the two schools maintained their separate identities until 2025. In that year, Wrekin College officially closed The Old Hall School, and immediately opened a new preparatory school on the same site under the new name of Wrekin Prep.[1]
In 2023 Wrekin was named as one of The Cricketer’s Top 100 cricketing schools in the country and in 2022 both the Under 16 and Under 13 rugby teams were named county champions.[18]
Cocurricular
A music school was opened in 2020 costing over £2m.[19]
Royal visit
Queen Elizabeth II visited Wrekin on Friday 17 March 1967, having opened Shire Hall in Shrewsbury earlier that day. The Headmaster, Robert Dahl (Headmaster. 1952-71), greeted the Queen, and in his study presented a specially bound copy of B.C.W Johnson’s A Brief History of Wrekin College, whilst Head of School, David Franklin (W. 1961-67) was given the honour of presenting a cricket bat for her sons[citation needed].
Merger of the Old Hall and Wrekin trusts.
In 2006, the trust was merged with that of The Old Hall Preparatory School (founded 1845), which moved from its original site on Limekiln Lane to the site of Wrekin College.[20]
The resulting trust is called The Wrekin Old Hall Trust.[21]
The Old Hall School (renamed Wrekin Prep in 2025)
The coat of arms of The Old Hall School - established for around 180 year before being closed and re-opened as Wrekin Prep
The Old Hall Preparatory School run from Wellington 0f 190 years until 2025 when it was renamed as Wrekin Prep.[22]
It was founded in 1835[23][24] by Dr J.E. (Joseph Edward) Cranage, providing originally for the education of boys only, being described in 1891 as:
one of the most widely known and popular educational establishments for gentlemen's sons in the Midlands[25]
In founding the school, Cranage was inspired by the example of Thomas Arnold at Rugby School,[26] he was aged just nineteen years at the time but had already completed an MA and PhD.[27] The school promised a:
A general and thoroughly liberal education is given. Boys are prepared for the Universities.. without a too exclusive attention to Greek and Latin[28][29]
The high medieval or C16th building which was the original site of the Old Hall School between 1845 and 2007
It operated for its first century and a half from a building understood to have been constructed in the 1400s.[30]
A chapel was added as a war memorial in 1922.[31] That chapel has since been converted into a residence, but the memorial tablets were moved to the Wrekin College chapel.[32]
Pupils of the school included Crown Princes of India,[33] and David Morrieson Panton.[34] Its motto was in Latin: "Utor non abutor" (I use, I do not abuse).
The writer Bruce Chatwin attended the school,[35]The London Review of Books published The Seventh Day, practically the last story Bruce Chatwin wrote. The semi-autobiographical account of a "nervous and skinny boy with thick fair hair" who hated boarding school so much he developed a near fatal bout of constipation, the tale was largely based on the writer’s own experiences at The Old Hall.[36]
The Old Hall appointed Ms Anna Karacan as headteacher in 2022, the first woman to hold the role in 188 years of the school to that point.[37]
This article's list of alumni may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability policy. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources showing they merit inclusion in this article and are alumni, or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations.(August 2025) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )
William Dyas MBE (1872-1940), first-class cricketer
Sir Albert Howard CIE (1873-1947), English botanist and pioneer of organic agriculture
Harry Andrews CBE (1911–1989), British stage and film actor
↑ Leinster-Mackay, Donald P. (1971). The English private school 1830-1914, with special reference to the private proprietary school. Durham University Thesis.
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