Podcasts · Activity Quest: Days out and crafts for kids
Victorian Surgery at London's Oldest Operating Theatre
· 12 min · S12 E38
Episode Victorian Surgery at London's Oldest Operating Theatre
Adam climbs a narrow spiral staircase, fifty-two steps of it, into the roof of an old church by London Bridge. Up there is the oldest surviving operating theatre in Europe...
It was built in 1822, in the attic where the hospital apothecaries had been drying their herbs, because the space sat right next to the women's ward and had a big skylight to operate under. It closed in 1862 when the hospital moved, was boarded up, and nobody set foot in it again until a researcher found it in 1956. Adam meets Dr Monica Walker for a look at how surgery worked before anaesthetic and before anyone knew about germs, which is not for the faint-hearted. Next door the Herb Garret is still full of the plants they used as medicine.
It is open Thursday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm, with last entry at 4.15pm. The spiral staircase is the usual way in, but there is an accessible entrance if you ring ahead.
Find out more by searching for the Old Operating Theatre Museum.
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