The education and charities team at property consultancy, Knight Frank, has been instructed by The John Whitgift Foundation to bring the The Old Palace of John Whitgift Pre-school & Preparatory School in Melville Avenue, South Croydon, to market.

Knight Frank is inviting offers in excess of £7.5m for the freehold interest of the site, which will be sold with vacant possession following the closure of the school at the end of this summer term.

The 4.6-acre site comprises 11 individual buildings while the built footprint at Melville Avenue extends to 66,131sq ft (GIA) of accommodation.

The main building, located at the south end of the site, fronts Croham Road and is an attractive detached Edwardian property that has been extended over the years.

Across the school site are a wide range of other buildings that have also been developed, along with another Edwardian building at the northern end of the site.

And the site benefits from good provision of outside space, including a large playing field, three hard-surfaced games courts, and other hard-standing areas.

Melville Avenue is situated within a mile of East Croydon railway station, which provides direct services into central London in under 25 minutes, as well as a nearby tram stop providing connections to local national rail stations (under and overground) and beyond to Wimbledon to the west and Beckenham to the east.

An abundance of open spaces are within the local vicinity, such as Coombe Wood Garden, the Addington Hills, and Croham Hurst Woods.

Emma Cleugh, head of the education and charities team at Knight Frank, said: “This large freehold property, most recently used as a school, presents a rare opportunity of scale that spans across 4.5 acres of grounds and is set in a very well-connected location.

“Potential buyers have the option to continue the current use or redevelop the site for alternative mixed or residential uses, subject to the necessary consents.”