Surrey Dispensary

The Surrey Dispensary began its life in seventeen seventy-seven as a lifeline for the poor in a neighborhood plagued by overcrowding and disease. Operating out of a temporary site in Montague Close near Saint Saviour's Church, it provided free medical advice and medicine to those who could not afford a doctor. Its mission extended beyond the clinic walls, as physicians and surgeons regularly traveled to the homes of the sick to offer care that was otherwise completely unavailable to the laboring classes. This institution emerged as a crucial part of the voluntary medical system that preceded the creation of the National Health Service.