Larchfield Academy was a preparatory school

Preparatory school (UK)

In English language usage in the former British Empire, the present-day Commonwealth, a preparatory school is an independent school preparing children up to the age of eleven or thirteen for entry into fee-paying, secondary independent schools, some of which are known as public schools...

 for boys in Helensburgh

Helensburgh

Helensburgh is a town in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Firth of Clyde and the eastern shore of the entrance to the Gareloch....

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

It was founded in 1845. Among its famous pupils were Sir James Frazer

James Frazer

Sir James George Frazer , was a Scottish social anthropologist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology and comparative religion...

 and John Logie Baird

John Logie Baird

John Logie Baird FRSE was a Scottish engineer and inventor of the world's first practical, publicly demonstrated television system, and also the world's first fully electronic colour television tube...

. In the late 1920s and early 1930s Cecil Day-Lewis

Cecil Day-Lewis

Cecil Day-Lewis CBE was an Irish poet and the Poet Laureate from 1968 until his death in 1972. He also wrote mystery stories under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake...

 and W. H. Auden

W. H. Auden

Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...

 taught there briefly.

The school closed in 1977, and its building became part of the Lomond School

Lomond School

Lomond School is an independent co-educational day and boarding school in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It was formed from a merger in 1977 between Larchfield Academy and St Bride's School for Girls...

which was formed from a merger with St. Brides Girls School, but was later sold to be converted into flats. The old building burnt down in a fire and now there is a new building where the old one was.