If there is any museum in London which is different, strange and totally unusual it is the Old Operating Theatre. The museum has London’s most exciting and significant interiors and it is located in the Southwark, London near the London Bridge. The Old Operating Theatre Museum is located in the garret (Herb Garret) of St Thomas Church in Southwark which is located on the original site of the St Thomas’ Hospital. To go to the Old Operating Theatre Museum just park your car at St Thomas’s Street, London.
History
The Old Operating Theatre which is located in the heart of London is the oldest operating theatre in whole of the Europe dating back to the year 1822. The Museum has the inimitably set timber in Spanish architecture style. The Herb Garret is the part of the museum where you get to travel around the Roof space of the St. Thomas’s Church. Roof spaces of churches are usually not allowed access to the common man and are restricted to priests and nuns. By coming to the Old Operating Theatre one can also witness the classic styling of the Church Architecture.
The Old Operating Theatre was not known to everyone till it was opened for public. It was hidden in the roof of the Church and had wooden operating table and observation stands (from where students used to watch the surgery being performed). The Old Operating Theatre was open to all but then it accepted to offer medical or surgical treatment to people infected with communicable diseases. At the time of the great plague there were almost no patients treated. Another very interesting part is that the patients never took the spiral staircase in the Old Operating Theatre; they had to come from what is now the fire exit.
Why the Old Operating Theatre is called an operating theatre and museum?
The Old Operating Theatre is called an operating theatre because it served as an operation theatre to patients and surgeons long, long back. The wealthy patients were given treatment and were operated at home than in hospital. It was only for poor and most of the patients at the Old Operating Theatre were females.
It is also called a theatre because the operations were carried out in front of the audience usually consisting of students who had come to learn the art of surgery.
It is called a museum because, there is no surgery done there anymore and it is the first of its kind not just in United Kingdom but in whole of Europe. One can witness what tools the surgeons used for operations back in the 19th century.
How did the doctors (surgeons) operate back then in the days?
All operations were done without anesthetics since “anaesthesia” was only found in the year 1847. The surgeons used to perform the surgery as fast as possible since the patients were conscious during the operations. The opium and alcohol were however used to make the patients not feel the inflicting pain. It is said that the surgeons operated so fast that the entire operation would take less than a minute.
Most of the cases at the Old Operating Theatre were for amputations. The Theatre never carried out internal operations as it carried the risk of septic. The Old Operating Theatre restricted to only external amputations. The operating table used for such operations is still here at the Old Operating Theatre Museum and lies along with the sawdust box which was used for collecting blood.
A visit to the Old Operating Theatre Museum is such a tremendous experience. The spiral staircase, roof of an old church and the storage space for medicinal herbs are few of the many things to view in the Museum.
One can appreciate the advancements mankind has made in the field of modern technology and science looking at the museum. The Museum remains closed from 15th December to 5th January every year. There is a minimal admission fee and the museum opens daily from 10:30am to 5:00pm BST.
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