Wren’s magnificent formal gardens, which provided a vista from the Royal Hospital to the River Thames and included canals gazebos and summer houses (one each for the Governor and Lieutenant Governor), were all swept away from 1850 to 1868 when the Chelsea Embankment was constructed.

In 1809, Sir John Soane constructed a new Infirmary building, with space for 80 patients. This on the site now occupied by the National Army Museum (1968/69). The Infirmary was damaged by bombing in the Second World War and later demolished.

The present Ranelagh Gardens (on the site of Ranelagh House and the Rotunda) were laid out by John Gibson (who designed Battersea Park and several other Royal parks) in about 1860. Previously the area had been used for Pensioners’ gardens and Soane provided a Summer House for their use in 1834. This structure is currently being restored.

Much of the land taken by Walpole was bought back in the C19th. The Royal Hospital also benefited in acquiring land as a result of the construction of the Chelsea Embankment and Chelsea Bridge Road. The Royal Hospital site now covers a total of 66 acres (27 hectares).

In the grounds are two batteries of guns. Four of the guns were captured at Waterloo (1815). The other is formed of two guns taken from the Sikhs at Chillianwallah (1849), one Chinese piece (1680), and one Dutch gun dated 1623. The 36” spherical shells were designed for use with Mallet mortars (mid-19th Century) but were never actually employed in action.

The 19th century saw the fitting of ranges in the Long Wards and were, until 1955, used for the cooking of rations.