Old soldiers' home in the ranks before receiving a commission. The site for the Royal Hospital was an area of Chelsea which held an incomplete building "Chelsey College", a theological college James I founded in 1609. The Royal Hospital opened its doors to the Chelsea Pensioners in 1692 for "the relief and succour" of veterans. Some of the first soldiers admitted included those injured at the Battle of Sedgemoor. The hospital maintains a 'military-based culture which puts a premium on comradeship'. The in-pensioners are formed into three companies, each headed by a Captain of Invalids (an ex-Army officer responsible for the 'day to
Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women as part of the nearby St Thomas' Hospital group of hospitals (now Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust). The Royal Waterloo Hospital closed on 27 July 1976. The building was awarded Grade II listed status by English Heritage in 1980. In 1981 it was sold and for the next three decades was the central London campus of Schiller International University. In 2011, Schiller International University moved out of the building and sold it to University of Notre Dame of South Bend, Indiana, USA where it was renovated and converted into dormitories. Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women The