The Royal Army Medical College was located on a site south of the Tate Gallery on Millbank, in Westminster, London overlooking the River Thames. The college moved from the site in 1999 and the buildings are now occupied by the Chelsea College of Art and Design.
History
The site, including that of the Tate Gallery was previously occupied by the Millbank Penitentiary from 1821 to the late 19th century. The college was built by John Henry Townsend and Wilfred Ainslie in Imperial Baroque style. They also designed the adjoining Regimental Officers’ Mess and Commandant’s House, in French Renaissance style. The buildings were opened by King Edward VII and Queen Alexander on 15 May 1907. A statue of Sir James McGrigor, the father of army medicine, originally at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea was moved to the grounds in 1907.
During the first world war the collge was used to prepare vaccines, including a vaccine against typhoid which was developed at the college. The college also researched into protection against chemical warfare icluding development of gas masks 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. [1]