For more than 450 years it has provided a home for military veterans.
But after providing shelter to in excess of 400 male residents, known as Brethren, in that time, the historic Lord Leycester Hospital has finally welcomed its first female ‘brother’.
Janet Brodie-Murphy, a former Major in the Woman’s Royal Army Corps who saw out the final months of the Cold War as a commanding officer stationed in Germany, has moved to the Grade I-listed Lord Leycester with fellow veteran and partner Alan Gill BEM.
They met when the pair were both In-Pensioners at London’s Royal Hospital Chelsea. Alan, who served with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, will also become a member of the Brethren.
The former Elizabethan-era hospital in the centre of Warwick is one of the finest medieval sites in Europe and currently plays host to five other veterans who live in its half-timbered buildings.
Within the community the pair will be referred to as Brother Jan and Brother Alan, just as in Tudor times.
Major (retired) Brodie-Murphy, 73, became a florist after leaving the Army in 1993. The grandmother-of-two said: ‘Being able to call somewhere like the Lord Leycester home is a huge honour and privilege.
‘I’m keen to help raise the profile of this wonderful place and ensure that everyone knows its quite remarkable history and how significant it is – not just to veterans but to the country as a whole.’
Following the death of her husband in 2016, alongside experiencing health issues, Major Brodie-Murphy became one of just 16 female in-pensioners at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
There, she met Capt (retired) Gill, who had moved in eight years earlier, after the death of his wife Kay from breast cancer.
The father-of-two said he fell in love with the hospital’s lesser-known sibling in Warwick during a visit to the county town. The couple then applied to become official ‘Brethren’.
During his time in the military Capt Gill was involved in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm during the first Gulf War.
After leaving the regular Army he then joined the Territorial Army, where he was Officer Commanding 31st (City of London) Royal Signals Regiment Workshop REME, as well as a second career in financial services.
The grandfather-of-one added: ‘I’ll confess I didn’t know much about the Lord Leycester when I first came to Warwick, but on that visit I just thought it was magnificent.
‘I phoned Jan and told her all about it, and we thought it would just be a marvellous place to live. We’ve been made so welcome already and are looking forward to getting involved wholeheartedly in life at the Lord Leycester and Warwick.’
The Lord Leycester was built by the powerful Warwick Guilds in the late 1300s and later given to Elizabeth I’s courtier Robert Dudley as a home for soldiers injured in the wars of the Tudor age.
In its 453-year history, the Lord Leycester has welcomed over 400 men to live in private lodgings on the site. The Brethren welcome visitors at the main gates as well as leading guided tours around the Medieval buildings and garden.
Heidi Meyer, Master of the Lord Leycester, said the hospital has a ‘centuries-long history of welcoming war heroes to live as part of our community’.
She added: ‘I am the first female Master of the Lord Leycester and I am delighted we now have the first female Brother as well.
‘We are an ancient organisation founded to take care of wounded veterans in the Tudor age and we haven’t changed much – except now finally we have a female Brother. That’s progress!’
Mrs Meyer was appointed to run the Lord Leycester, which has featured in television programmes such as Pride and Prejudice and Dr Who, in 2016 after a three-year stint working as a senior political advisor to the commander of NATO Land Forces in Turkey.
The Lord Leycester is a charity supporting ex-servicemen. It has recently undergone a £5 million transformation funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.