St. Michael's Diocesan College was founded in Pietermaritzburg in 1896 by James Cameron Todd, an Anglican canon.

The school was established as a private venture with fifteen boys in two small houses in Loop Street.

He wrote: "A man's tone, moral and spiritual, as well as intellectual, is largely determined for life by his school."

Within a few years, Michaelhouse became the Diocesan College of Natal, governed by a permanent trust deed and administered by a board of governors.

The Latin school motto, Quis ut Deus translates to 'Who like God?

This motto is derived from the name of the school whose origin stems from the Hebrew Mikha'el which translates to the same.

Michaelhouse educates boys and has an academic staff of about seventy with a male teaching quotient of approximately 62%; the master(teacher)/pupil ratio is 1:10.

[6] Michaelhouse school-leavers write the Independent Examinations Board exams and consistently achieve top results.

The first buildings to be completed were the existing administration block, vestry and gallery of the now extended chapel, and Founders House.

The hill overlooking Michaelhouse is one of the rarer biomes in the country (Midlands mistbelt grassland) and is the preferred habitat for an indigenous antelope, the Oribi.

The original school buildings are made of traditional Pietermaritzburg red brick.

The stained glass windows featured in the Sir Herbert Baker designed chapel, include the Michaelhouse rose window, created by Ervin Bossanyi depicting the head of Christ surrounded by the birds of Natal Province at the rear of the chapel.

There is also a series of lancet windows in the sanctuary by Margaret Agnes Rope depicting the Virgin and child, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and Samuel as a boy, King David as a young man, John the Baptist as a child and the boy with the loaves and fishes.

The theatre hosts a variety of performances, mainly aimed at the resident population of pupils.

The centre also features a cafeteria/restaurant which is available to the pupils as well as the public, and accommodation for visiting teams to stay overnight.

There are 11 playing fields: These include six turf cricket pitches, two artificial astroturf hockey surfaces, a heated swimming pool (12 lanes by 25 metres), a heated water polo pool, eight tennis courts, a weight training facility, a six court squash complex, a golf driving range with artificial putting green, an indoor sports centre (used primarily for basketball and indoor hockey - the facility also houses four artificial surface indoor cricket practice nets) and a dam for canoeing.