The two were permanently re-merged in 1878, together with part of the Magdalen trust, to form the "Hastings Grammar School Foundation". A Victorian Gothic Revival building was constructed by John Howell & Son to the design of Jeffery & Skiller on a slope overlooking Hastings, at Standen's High Field which became Nelson road, and occupied in July 1883. The school was originally designed as a central tower with wings either side. Owing to lack of funds, the wing intended as accommodation for the headmaster and boarders was never built.