One of the more unusual museums in London, the Old Operating Theatre Museum is hidden in the roof of a church, where Britain’s only surviving 19th century Operating Theatre was built for the purpose of demonstrating surgical skills. The Operating Theatre was located next to St. Thomas’s Hospital and was used between 1821 and 1862 in the days before anaesthetic and antiseptic surgery, and medical students would pack the theatre to witness operations. A visit to the museum may include a ‘spine-chilling’ re-enactment as a member of the museum’s staff takes on the role of a 19th century surgeon while a ‘patient’ is chosen from the audience to lie down on the authentic wooden operating table. Original Victorian surgical instruments are then used to perform a ‘simulated’ amputation of the ‘patient’s’ left leg. The museum’s location was once a ‘Herb Garret’ that would have been used by the Hospital’s Apothecary to store and cure herbs. The museum’s tours are appropriate for all ages.
- Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret
- 9a St. Thomas’s St. London SE1 9RY
- www.thegarret.org.uk
- Underground: London Bridge