The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret

The museum is located in the attic of the Saint Thomas Church in the Southwark neighbourhood, where you could originally find a hospital dedicated to this saint. Here is where you can visit the oldest operating room in the country, it's been in use since before the discovery of anesthesia, in the 1820's. You can see the herbalist shop used by the hospital pharmacist for drying and storing herbs for the preparation of medicines and all kinds of instruments and objects used for operations (and amputations). On this tour you will discover the horrors of medicine and surgery before the great advances in medical science.

In the attic of the church of Saint Thomas is the country's oldest theater, of the nineteenth century, and a museum with the techniques and medicine used. Being a fairly old hospital, it has many horrifying stories. In 1822 this theater was opened, the first in the UK, where patients were treated who were mostly poor and could not afford their operations. I recommend this tour as it is different and yet very interesting.

A very original museum in Borough district in south London. The Old Operating Theatre Museum is in the attic of St. Thomas Church, before that there was a hospital here dedicated to the saint. What you can see is the oldest theater in the country, dating from 1822, anesthesia wasn't used because it had not been discovered! The level of medicine was very basic and it explains how little they knew and the means they used to cure patients. There's a herbal area with all the herbs used to make potions and medicines and all instruments look like instruments of torture. St. Thomas Hospital was on this site since at least 1215 and they treated mostly poor patients.