The Old Operating Theatre Voucher

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Of all London’s hidden treasures, the operating theatre of the old St. Thomas’ Hospital, a stone’s throw from Tower Bridge, is one of the most stunning. Used in countless TV programmes and films, including the Johnny Depp tale of Jack The Ripper, From Hell, the old theatre London is one of those very few atmosphere-rich places where you literally feel that you have walked back into another time and place, where you can envisage the Victorian surgeons at their macabre work, watched by a crowd of their peers and curious onlookers, as the unfortunate patient writhed in pain from the procedures conducted at the operating theatre in the awful days before anaesthetic and antiseptics.

Of all the Surgery theatres in the UK where surgery was performed in the Victorian era, this is the best preserved, nestling as it does in the roof-space of a 300-year old church, accessed by a narrow and winding staircase, and located in an annex of the old herb garret, where medical apothecaries cultivated medicinal plants to aid in the healing of their wards, and ground out potions and poultices, using everything from opium and wormwood to oyster shells.

Now housing the operating theatre museum, which is packed to the gills with authentic, scary-looking period instruments like amputation saws and knives, biological samples, period illustrations and curios, the old theatre London was in use between 1821 and 1862, and the pervading sense of dread can be cut like a knife, its wooden standing galleries placed like an amphitheatre so that the doctors of the day could demonstrate their skills like a spectator sport.

Indeed, there are occasional demonstrations of mock operations, and talks about the procedures provide a fascinating insight into the work of one of the leading theatres in the UK, as well as its rediscovery in the early 20th Century and restoration in its latter part. Children under seven may not appreciate all the finer details of what went on, but the operating theatre museum has more than enough to keep them gripped and stimulated, making the operating theatre of St. Thomas’ an ideal family day out in any weather.

Save 20% on your tickets to the Operating Theatre Museum by printing the voucher code at the top of this page and present at the till to get 20% off your entry cost (valid for up to six people with each voucher code)! Alternately, you can display the voucher code using your mobile, if you have internet access.


 

How to use our The Old Operating Theatre vouchers

• 20% off all entry prices except group tickets.
• No pre-purchase necessary. Simply present the voucher at the attraction.
• Each voucher is valid for one to six people.