The foundations of a hospital service in the southern parts of the county of Gwent, South Wales, as we know it today, were first laid as far back as the late 1830s. A medical dispensary was opened in Llanarth Street, Newport and comforts of a sort were provided at the Poor House or Workhouse at Stow Hill. From these humble 19th century beginnings, were to develop the building of the Newport and Monmouthshire Hospital off Cardiff Road, forerunner of The Royal Gwent and the re-building of the Workhouse to form St. Woolos Hospital. Both of these institutions have been focal points of healthcare in the area for more than a century, and a comprehensive study of their long and strategically important histories has been recorded for posterity in this book.