Colston's School was founded in 1710 by the Bristol philanthropist, Edward Colston. He entrusted his school into the care of the Society of Merchant Venturers, which continues to play an active and caring role in the school's affairs, nominating half the governing body, including the chairman, from its members. The school moved from the centre of the city to a former palace of the Bishop of Bristol, at Stapleton, in 1857. Together with the Lower School, which is situated on what used to be Stapleton Court and the old Rectory, the school estate can boast over 30 acres of beautiful grounds on the northern outskirts of Bristol, bordering the river Frome. Colston's was exclusively a boys' school until girls were admitted to the sixth form in 1984. It became fully co-educational following its amalgamation in 1991 with the Collegiate School, Winterbourne, a school founded in Redland in 1902. It became Colston's Collegiate, catering for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 years and boarders from 11 years, and the name reverted to Colston’s School in 2004.
