Site: Brian Haw + dispensary (2 memorials)
SE1, Lambeth Road, 52, School of Historical Dress
The dispensary was founded on this site in 1821 to distribute medicines and health advice to the local population. That operation probably ran out of a normal house, replaced in 1841 by this purpose-built property, which could be when the 'Royal' prefix arrived. For lack of funds the dispensary shut in June 1917. In 1815 Bethlehem Hospital had moved into St George's Fields, opposite, and in August 1918, it acquired this old dispensary building as its nervous diseases department. Here WW1 soldiers were treated for shell-shock. This closed in 1927 and in 1930 the building was taken over as the Elizabeth Baxter Hostel for Distressed Women and Girls. In 2016 the building was acquired to be the home of the School of Historical Dress.
