The Royal Army Medical College (RAMC) was located on a site south of the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

(now known as Tate Britain) on

Millbank Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the Millb ...

, in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bucki ...

, London, overlooking the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

. The college moved from the site in 1999 and the buildings are now occupied by the

Chelsea College of Arts Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further education, further ...

. The area around the college including the Tate, former military hospital and other adjacent areas is a conservation area.Millbank Conservation Area
– Westminster City Council, January 2005, accessed 6 August 2012 The former college buildings are now

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

History

The site, including that of the Tate Gallery (which opened in 1897), was previously occupied by the

Millbank Prison Millbank Prison or Millbank Penitentiary was a prison in Millbank, Westminster, London, originally constructed as the National Penitentiary, and which for part of its history served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were ...

from 1821 to the late 19th century. The college was built by John Henry Townsend and Wilfred Ainslie in Imperial

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including th ...

style. They also designed the adjoining Regimental Officers’

Mess The mess (also called a mess deck aboard ships) is a designated area where military personnel socialize, eat and (in some cases) live. The term is also used to indicate the groups of military personnel who belong to separate messes, such as the o ...

and Commandant's House, in French Renaissance style. The buildings were opened by

King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

and

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of K ...

on 15 May 1907. A statue of Sir

James McGrigor Sir James McGrigor, 1st Baronet, (9 April 1771 – 2 April 1858) was a Scottish physician, military surgeon and botanist, considered to be the man largely responsible for the creation of the Royal Army Medical Corps. He served as Rector of the U ...

, the father of army medicine, originally at the

Royal Hospital, Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an i ...

was moved to the grounds in 1907 and then moved again to the

Royal Military Academy Sandhurst The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...

in 2000.

Queen Alexandra Military Hospital The Queen Alexandra Military Hospital (QAMH) opened in July 1905. It was constructed immediately to the north of the Tate Britain (across a side-street) adjacent to the River Thames on the borders of the neighbourhoods of Millbank and Pimlico, ...

was built to the north of the Tate Gallery and opened in 1905. Sir Cooper Perry was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

in 1903 for helping set up the college. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighti ...

the college was used to prepare vaccines, including a vaccine against

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several d ...

which was developed at the college. The college also researched into protection against chemical warfare including the development of

gas masks A gas mask is a mask used to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Most gas mask ...

here. In the second World War, the college provided courses in tropical medicine. The college was seriously damaged in 1941 by bombs and the walls of the Tate Gallery nearby still show signs of the damage. The Royal Army Medical College became the post graduate training wing of the Royal Defence Medical College in April 1996. After teaching transferred to the

Royal Hospital Haslar The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, was one of several hospitals serving the local area. It was converted into retirement flats between 2018 and 2020. The hospital itself is a Grade II listed building. History Formation and oper ...

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite th ...

in 1999, the college closed and the buildings were subsequently occupied by the

Commandants of the Royal Army Medical College

(Dates in parentheses are years of service) *Colonel H. E. R. James (1902–1908) *Colonel D. Wardrop (1908–1911) *Colonel E. J. Risk (1911–1912) *Major-General Bruce Morland Skinner (1912–14) *Major-General Sir David Bruce KCB, FRS, (1914–1919)S R Christophers: 'Bruce, Sir David (1855–1931)' (rev. Helen J Power), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2008, accessed 23 May 2014
/ref> *Major-General S. Guise Moores (1919–1920) *Colonel H. A. Hinge (1920–1922) *Colonel C. B. Martin (1922–1924) *Major-General C. W. Mainprise (1924–1925) *Colonel Henry Edward Manning Douglas VC (1925–1929) *Colonel John Southey Bostock

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(1929–1930)British Medical Journal (BMJ), 23 August 1930, 2(3633):page307, accessed 23 May 2014
/ref> *Major-General Sir Ralph Bignell Ainsworth Kt, CB, DSO,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(1930–1935) *Major-General William Porter MacArthur KCB (1935–1938) *Major-General William Brooke Purdon (1938–1940) *Major-General Francis Stephen Irvine (1940–1946) *Major-General E. B. Marsh (1946–1948) *Major-General John Dowse (1948–1949) *Major-General J. M. Macfie (1949–1950) *Major-General F. R. H. Mollan (1950–1953) *Major-General F. C. Hilton-Sergeant (1953–1957) *Major-General W. D. Hughes (1957–1960) *Major-General Sir William Robert MacFarlane Drew (1960–1963) *Major-General Ambrose Neponucene Trelawney Meneces (1963–1966) *Major-General John Mackenzie Matheson (1969–1971) *Major-General James Baird (1971–1973) *Major-General Simon Gavourin (1973–1977) *Major-General

Alan Reay Lieutenant General Sir Hubert Alan John Reay, KBE, FRCP, CStJ (19 March 1925 – 4 February 2012) was a senior British Army officer. He served as Director General Army Medical Services between 1981 and 1984. Early life Reay was born on 1 ...

(1977–1979) *Major-General Robert Noel Evans (1979–1981) *Major-General Joseph Porter Crowdy CB (1981–1984) *Major-General

Patrick Crawford Major-General Ian Patrick Crawford, (11 October 1933 – 21 February 2009) was a British Army medical officer and expert on preventive medicine who was awarded the George Medal for saving the life of a Gurkha officer following a helicopter cra ...

(1989–1993) *Major-General George Osborne Cowan (1993–1996)

References

{{Authority control Training establishments of the British Army Art gallery districts Former buildings and structures in the City of Westminster Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade II listed hospital buildings Medical units and formations of the British Army Military history of London Military installations closed in 1999 Millbank