| Summary : The earliest part of this composite building was built for Greenwich Hospital as a school building in 1783-4. It was designed by the Clerk of Works, William Newton, and was intended to accommodate 200 boys. In 1821 the Hospital took over the Royal Naval Asylum, then housed in new buildings flanking the Queen's House. The earlier school was then converted into an infirmary. A zymotic ward was added in 1881-2 and other smaller additions were made. in 1923 the building was acquired by the Seamen's Hospital Society for an expansion of the Dreadnought Seamen's Hospital although the infirmary was not vacated until 1933. By this time the first phase of Nurses Home, designed by Edwin Cooper, had already been completed, erected in 1925-9. The second phase, which included the demolition of the 1881-2 additions, was carried out in 1933-4. The nurses home was constructed on the site of the Greenwich Hospital Burial Ground ( see HOB 1170293), which had closed in 1857 and the mausoluem and surviving monuments were incorporated into its grounds. The building remained in use as nurses home until 1993. |