The oldest reference to a girls' school in the Hardacre area comes from the 11th century. This was the time of the Viking raids upon the northern coast of Britain. Rosedale Abbey records that several maiden daughters of the northern gentry were ensconced at the Convent for protection from the Vikings.

In 1066 a large force of Norwegian Vikings, led by King Hardakra of Norway, landed on the coast near Whitby and marched inland, intent upon abducting the girls of Rosedale Abbey. King Harold and the English army marched north, and intercepted the Vikings on what is now Hardacre Moor. After a furious battle, the Vikings fled over what is now Hardacre Rigg, pursued by the English army. King Hardakra escaped the slaughter and hid in a cave near the Hardacre Beck, on the spot where our school now stands.

He survived with a small band of his Vikings after the English army was forced to march south to engage the Duke of Normandy's army at Hastings on the southern coast. The Normans killed King Harold and began their Conquest of England, progressing north. One of the final engagements of the Conquest was in the Hardacre area, where the remants of the Vikings, led by Hardakra, were still actively looting, pillaging, and raping. Lord William Crusteau-Gite was appointed as the bailiff of North Yorkshire, and is credited with discovering the whereabouts of Hardakra, in the cave which became known as "the place of Hardakra's Hidings". Parts of this cave can still be found in the basement of the School.

Hardakra and his remaining men fled from the cave, being finally killed by the Normans in the area later known "the place of Hardakra's Ending". When examining the living conditions in the cave for the first time, the Norman soldiers are reputed to have referred to it as "Hardakra's Hall, a fit residence for barbarians". The village of "Hardakra's Ending" is mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Little more is known until 1547, when the "Corporation of the Governors of the Reform School for Girls in Hardacre End" was founded by Henry Crusty-Gitt, Archbishop of York, in 1547. The School and its sister Foundations were endowed with lands at Hardacre End and elsewhere by the same Archbishop Crusty-Gitt. Hardacre Hall was built above the site of "Hardakra's Hidings" by the Corporation with funds from the Archbishopric. The School Library contains a pictorial record of the first Punishment dispensed at the new school.

The first recorded Punishment at the School of 1547.

The Battle of Hardacre Moor was one of the final major conflicts of the English Civil War, when General Sir Oliver Crusty-Gitt defeated the Royalists and captured King Charles. Unfortunately, the last of the Royalists barricaded themselves into Hardacre Hall, and by the time the General had winkled them out with substantial cannon fire, the Hall had become "one of the ruins that Cromwell's army knocked about a bit".

One of the first Punishments at the New Model Reformatory.

Sir Oliver later had the Hall rebuilt as a "a place of confinement and reform for the daughters of traitorous Royalists", effectively holding them hostage to ensure no further trouble from any surviving Royalist sympathisers. The building was then known as the "New Model Reformatory". The School has a pictorial record of one of the first Punishments dispensed at the new Reformatory.

Again, little more is known until the late 19th century. Some time in the 17th or 18th centuries, the Reformatory had closed, and the Crusty-Gitt family had reacquired the property as their family home.

In 1883, Sir Albert Crusty-Gitt and other local landowners founded the "Yorkshire League For The Suppression Of Vice", affiliated to the National League of the same name. A horse-drawn Black Maria (a closed conveyance with no windows) was driven round the towns of North Yorkshire by the trusted staff of the Crusty-Gitts, most notably Jack "The Whipper" Squeers, and female prostitutes below the age of 16 were abducted and brought to the Hall to be punished and reformed.

By the 1890's, the League's activities had expanded to include girls brought before the Courts for stealing or absconding, as well as girls sent directly from their homes for such matters as refusing to undertake their arranged marriages.

The Hall was by now known as "The North Yorkshire Reformatory Workhouse For Female Delinquents" and offered a regime of strenuous exercise, hard work, strict discipline, and training for Domestic Service. The building had mostly been converted to a large laundry. This served the dual purpose of occupying the inmates and producing a substantial income for the league, which augmented the grants received from the North Yorkshire County Council.

A regime of strict discipline.

 The Laundry - Click here for the Pictorial Record of the Hardacre Hall Laundry

It is recorded that in the early 20th century, the Hall was a very popular source of domestic servants, that occupation receiving few volunteers from among the general populace.

In the late 1920's, following an explosion of a steam boiler in the laundry and resultant injuries to several persons from flying smalls which had been overly starched, the Hall ceased operation, and the Crusty-Gitt family moved to York.

In late 1928 the League merged with the Archbishop of York's "Corporation of Governors etc" and became "The Church Trust For The Moral Reform Of Wayward Girls", chaired by Sir George Crusty-Gitt. The Hall was refurbished and modernised with such things as electricity, and reopened as a Girls' Private School.

Despite the high fees charged to parents, the school was extremely popular. This was due to the dedicated efforts of the staff, most notably the Headmistress, Miss Agatha Trunchbull.

Among the many achievements of the school, the School Play and the Essays Competition are probably the most famous, and the records are preserved in the library.

The School ceased operation shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War, and the lands of Hardacre were leased to the War Department for use by the Army. It had been intended that the area would be used as a practise artillery firing range, with the Hall making an excellent aiming point, and the area was closed to the public.

However, upon the onset of hostilities, the Hall was sub-let to the "Acme Uniform Company" for use as a factory and warehouse for the production of women's military uniforms.

After the War, the factory found itself with a massive stockpile of navy blue and khaki material. Acme switched production to school uniforms made from these materials, and ceased production altogether in 1948, moving its stocks to an industrial estate at Lower Pantsdown.

In 1949, the land and buildings were returned to the Trust. After some significant rebuilding the school re-opened in 1950 with a great deal of public interest. In an attempt to avert some of this publicity the school became totally private with admissions restricted to the daughters of Trust members.

The Church Trust, under the chairmanship of Lady Georgina Crusty-Gitt, has invested heavily in an extensive modernisation of the School, and it began taking external admissions in 1955.