- Type: Castles, Palaces & Historic Buildings
NileGuide Expert tip:
The herb garret is an eye opening adventure through the world of pharmacy. Feel, crush, & mix herbs used in treating patients.
Description:
- Above St Thomas Church in Southwark is London's oldest surviving operating theatre. Built in 1821, it was the scene of many amputations carried out with a saw and no anaesthetic. Blood would drip - or probably pour - off the wooden table and get soaked up by three inches of sawdust. One wonders what the congregation below would have thought of the screams emanating from upstairs, with the odd drip of blood seeping through the ceiling. With anaesthetics unavailable, patients would often awake from their drunken state (they had a choice of passing out from either alcohol or pain) in the midst of an operation. Fortunately the National Health Service's operating theatres have leapt forward, and medical students don't have such a frighteningly free rein.
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Ask a local about Old Operating Theatre
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Ask London Locals about Old Operating Theatre
- Details
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Contact:
- visit website
- tel: +44 20 7188 2679
- fax: +44 20 7378 8383
- send email
Address:
- 9a St Thomas Street
- London SE1 9RY
Neighborhood:
The South BankStrenuousness:
- Easy
- User Rating
