“Heads, Heads” the students cried. Step into the Old Operating Theatre Museum. Here, we peel back layers of medical history. We uncover a time before modern marvels. This museum is a window into a grim past. It showcases surgery before anesthesia and antiseptics. The Old Operating Theatre Museum is located at 9a St Thomas Street. It is within the garret of St Thomas’s Church. This was the original site of St Thomas’s Hospital.
Let’s journey back to 1822. The herb garret became a purpose-built operating theater. Before this, operations happened on the ward. Imagine the screams echoing through the hospital. This change was due to the female surgical ward. It abutted the garret. Perhaps it even served as a recovery ward.
The church housing the Old Operating Theatre Museum was rebuilt between 1693 and 1702. Sir Robert Clayton employed Thomas Cartwright. Cartwright was a master mason to Christopher Wren. The garret was fitted in the ‘aisled-barn’ tradition. It became known as the herb garret by 1821. Apothecaries stored and cured medicinal herbs here. Dried opium heads were even found in the rafters.
Until 1847, surgeons relied on speed and mental preparation. Alcohol and opiates dulled the senses. An amputation could be done in under a minute. Later, ether and chloroform offered some relief. Yet, the Old Operating Theatre Museum closed before antiseptic surgery. Most procedures were amputations or superficial. Internal operations were too risky.
John Flint South, a St Thomas surgeon, described the scene. Students packed the theater. They were eager to witness an operation. The first two rows held dressers. Behind them, pupils stood “packed like herrings in a barrel”. They struggled for a view. “Heads, Heads” they cried out.
Patients endured the audience. They received treatment from top surgeons. Otherwise, they could not afford it. Wealthy patients had surgery at home. Often this was on the kitchen table.
The lack of hygiene increased death rates. Surgeons might wash their hands after surgery, not before. Frock coats were “stiff and stinking with pus and blood”. A sawdust box collected blood beneath the table. Shock and poor patient health worsened outcomes.
Florence Nightingale became involved in 1859. She set up her nursing school. She advised moving the hospital. In 1862, the hospital moved to Lambeth. The Old Operating Theatre Museum was forgotten. It remained undiscovered until 1957.
In 1962, after 100 years, the garret and theater opened as a museum. It is the oldest surviving operating theater in the UK. The museum also features the herb garret. It shows instruments for cupping, bleeding, trepanning, and childbirth. Displays cover monastic health care. They explore the history of St Thomas’s, Guy’s, and Evelina Children’s Hospitals. Florence Nightingale and herbal medicine are also featured.
Today, the Old Operating Theatre Museum stands as a reminder. It highlights the evolution of medicine. It survived fires, reformation, and neglect. It is now the oldest operating theater in Europe. The magic lies in its dual story. The herb garret shows herbal treatments. The operating theater shows brutal surgeries. Visiting offers a glimpse into pre-modern medicine. It is a survivor nestled near The Shard. The museum connects us to a past. It makes us grateful for modern medicine.