Located a few hundred yards to the east of Ramsey Parish Church, Essex, Michaelstowe Hall is set back from the main Harwich road in 17 acres of landscaped grounds.Grade II listed in 1987, the main three-storey 1903 structure is of red Berkshire brick with white stone facings and a slated roof.
The stable block is surmounted by a clock tower and provided stalls for eight horses and a garage for three motor cars or carriages.The 1777 Andre and Chapman map of Essex shows an earlier Michaelstow Hall on the main road immediately adjacent to St. Michael's church at the top of Ramsey Hill, four hundred yards west of the current location.
Ramsay Manor has had extensive refurbishment in order to modernise the building to bring it to the forefront of elderly residential care.
In 1379 King Richard II granted licence to give 200 acres of Michaelstowe to the Monastery of Saint Osyth, but following the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1536 the manor was divided with a "moiety" (half) being granted to Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth, and a "moiety" to Sir George Whitmore.
As William died under age and without issue, the Michaelstowe Estate passed to trustees and was later sold to Sir Thomas Davall, MP for Harwich from 1695 to 1708.
The estate at that time owned land and farms across Bradfield, Wrabness and Ramsey as well as the Dovercourt Golf Course and the Garland Hotel in Parkeston.
[4] Following the 1920 sale, Michaelstowe Hall was acquired by Richard Combe Abdy (1869–1938), a wealthy businessman with interests in cotton and banking.
During his ownership of Michaelstowe Hall sixty gardeners were employed to help maintain the grounds and there is a well known tale of Squire Abdy offering £1 to any of his guests who could find a single weed anywhere on the estate.
Well known for his good humour and hospitality, his many house guests at Michaelstowe Hall included representatives from Harwich Police, and officers from visiting warships.
As High Steward of Harwich, Mr Abdy took a valued part in local affairs and one of his civic duties was to open the Dovercourt Band Enclosure on 14 July 1929 (later known as the Cliffs Pavilion).
Michaelstowe Hall was up for sale again in July 1932 at an auction held by Knight, Frank, and Rutley in Hanover Square, London.
Following the move to Michaelstowe Hall in 1947 the school gradually expanded to take a maximum of 91 boys in the 1970s, mainly from the East London area.