The school was closed in July 1895. On 4 June 1901 its premises were sold to Edmund Hannay Watts. Following his death, his eldest son, Fenwick Shadforth Watts, had the fabric of the building renovated and furnished, at a cost of several thousand pounds, before handing it over to Dr Barnardo's Homes. As a result, it was turned into a home for up to 300 orphans and destitute boys under the charge of Dr T. J. Barnardo and was opened informally on 9 March 1903. The establishment was then used for the training of selected Barnardo's boys for a life at sea in the Royal Navy or mercantile Marine. The school was opened on 17 April 1906, by Viscount Coke, later Earl of Leicester. It was classified as a Secondary Technical School, with the technical instruction being nautical and with musical training for boys intending on being enlisted in the Royal Marines or other military bands.