The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret
Britain's oldest surviving operating theatre, preserved in a church attic above London Bridge with pre-anaesthetic surgical instruments.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret in London puts you in the attic operating room built in 1822, where surgery was scheduled for noon so the skylight could supply the only light in the room and students packed the tiered galleries to watch. It follows what surgery meant before anaesthetic and antiseptic, from the leather strap patients bit down on to the speed the best surgeons prized above all else. You'll hear what happened to the hospital in 1862 and to this room once it closed. Look up at the skylight and picture the room in winter light.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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