52 Lambeth Road: A Hidden Gem With An Amazing Story

At 52 Lambeth Road you will find the School of Historical Dress. The building has a fascinating history and I was lucky enough to visit as part of the Open House Festival.

It went from a Victorian medical dispensary, to hospital for nervous diseases, to charitable hostel and finally to the School of Historical Dress.

Medical Dispensary

The Royal South London Dispensary was founded on this site in 1821 to distribute medicines and health advice to the local population. You can see the old sign at the top of the building on the exterior photo above.

Medical dispensaries, often charitably run or on a subscription basis, were an important cog in the country’s health system before the NHS.

This was generally pretty a poor area of 19th century London and by 1840 the dispensary had served over 15,000 people.

The building we have today was constructed in 1841 to house the dispensary. Below is a photo of another London dispensary to give you an idea of what it might have looked like inside.

The dispensary operated until June 1917, when it had to shut due to lack of funds.

Hospital For Nervous Diseases

In August 1918, the building was acquired by the Bethlem psychiatric hospital opposite.

It was set up as the nervous diseases department of Bethlem physchiatric hospital. Bethlem is, of course, where we get the term ‘bedlam’ from to mean chaotic and out of control, giving you an idea of the conditions inside the hospital for much of its history. Bethlem was based across the road at what is now the Imperial War Museum in this period.

As part of this role, 52 Lambeth Road was used to treat soldiers suffering from shell-shock, as they needed somewhere quieter than the main hospital.

The department was considered highly successful, being the first to be part of a wider London mental hospital. It treated 100 patients in the first 2 months and these numbers continued to rise.

In 1927, the department was unfortunately shut down, due to, amongst other factors, lack of money- spot the theme.

Hostel For Distressed Women And Girls

In 1930 the building was taken over as the Elizabeth Baxter Hostel for Distressed Women and Girls.

Elizabeth Baxter and her husband established a charity in the 1880’s to feed the hungry and homeless of the East End. Their granddaughter Violet Elizabeth (Betty) Paget Baxter was the one who obtained the building at 52 Lambeth Road to use as a hostel.

The charity also ran a travelling van from 1905 to feed the homeless on the Victoria Embankment. Astonishingly, they were given a court summons in the 1920’s for causing an obstruction when the van was stationary.

A special gearbox was therefore fitted to ensure the van could travel at 1/4 mile an hour, whilst distributing food, to not cause an obstruction!

The indomitable Betty was known as ‘the Silver Lady’ due to her silver hair and the fact she gave out silver sixpences or shillings to those in need. The charity became known as the Silver Lady Fund and still operates to this day.

School of Historical Dress

In 2016 the building was acquired as the new home of the School of Historical Dress. The school was established in 2012, under the leadership of Jenny Tiramani.

The building was sensitively refurbished, including removing partition walls, to reveal the 19th century layout of the building. The Royal South London Dispensary sign was also uncovered at this time, having been plastered over.

The school aims to promote the study of historical dress including those of non-Western cultures. Students include those interested in fashion, re-enacting, theatre and more.

The school houses the Janet Arnold and Hopkins’ Collections. These include many genuine historical garments from 1700 onwards and form the basis of material the school teaches with.

The school is not open to visit during the rest of the year unfortunately. It is definitely worth putting on your wishlist for the Open House festival next year.