Old Operating Theatre Museum
The Old Operating Theatre Museum
9A St Thomas' Street
London
Greater London
SE1 9RY
England
Website
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Museum Staff and enquiries
Director
Telephone
020 7188 2679
Hidden in the roof of a church, a 300-year old herb garret houses Britain's only surviving 19th century operating theatre. This museum, one of London's most intriguing historical interiors, contains the Operating Theatre, in use between 1821 and 1862 in the days before anaesthetic and antiseptic surgery. The Herb Garret, a "delightful experience of oak beams" was used by the apothecary of St Thomas' Hospital to store the herbs used within patients medicines.
The museum offers a full education service combined with cutting edge public events, including Victorian Surgery, Horror Hospital, and regular art exhibitions and special guest lecturers.
Venue Type:
Museum
Additional info
Please note that unfortunately there is no disabled access to the museum.
The Museum has a diverse collection of medical, surgical and herbal objects, including amputation sets, bloodletting instruments, pharmaceutical jars, and nursing and obstetric instruments and items.
Collection details
Architecture, Industry, Medicine, Natural Sciences, Personalities, Science and Technology, Social History
Key artists and exhibits
- The Old Operating Theatre - the oldest operating theatre in Britain and the Herb Garret exbitition.
The Pathologists' Hunt for the Hidden Killer
The dose taken is often all that separates a useful medicine from a deadly poison. Before the days of clinical trials and accurate laboratory tests, poisoning was a common cause of death. Poisons were sometimes taken in the mistaken belief that they would cure disease or were administered secretly by a third party with more sinister motives. A third category of poisoning became common in the nineteenth century - accidental poisoning by objects in the home. A new middle class emerged following the industrial revolution, with a large number of people having disposable income and opportunities for leisure activities for the first time. People decorated their homes and themselves with brightly coloured textiles but there was deadly poison in their new wallpapers and pretty dresses. Find out more about one of the hidden killers in the Victorian home from pathologist Dr Suzy Lishman. With the help of a live model, Dr Lishman will describe what an autopsy involves and what signs the pathologist would look for to diagnose death from poisoning.
When
6:30-7:30pm
DELIRIUM
It is estimated that up to 80% of people being treated in intensive care experience delirium
the bulk of these will hallucinate.
Delirium is a series of songs about hallucinations in intensive care, written by Victoria Hume and based on interviews with people who have been through this extraordinary experience, and with the staff who care for them
When
6:30-8:30pm
Admission
£10 including refreshments. Booking is essential- for booking and ticketing information contact info@victoriahume.com
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