This is a unique after hours event that will take you back in time to witness a mock Victorian surgical demonstration presented within the original architecture of the old operating theatre of St. Thomas’s Hospital dated to 1822. Before the advent of anaesthesia, an operation had to be swift. Without hand-washing or antiseptics, the chance of later infection was high.
This interactive workshop explores what it was like to have been a medical practitioner and patient in St Thomas’ Hospital during the 19th century. Our visitors will explore the role of an apothecary, creating their own herbal remedies to treat a range of illnesses, and also experience the ‘bloody’ world of surgery before the arrival of antiseptics and anaesthetics, when a mock amputation is performed on a volunteer. This session provides an exciting way for young children to engage with history and encourages creative thinking and imagination.
How did people dream in the past? Do other cultures and time periods have different types of nightmares? Join Dr Bill MacLehose for a discussion of the dark side of the medieval world of dreams, as we explore the ways fear entered people’s dreams in the middle ages. We will look closely at the history of the medical condition called the incubus, in which sufferers awoke unable to move and often imagined that they were being attacked by a demon or other creature.
You will be among a select group of people who will experience an exciting event in the attic of St Thomas' Church in London Bridge: a Classical music concert in the oldest operating theatre in Europe. DEBUT brings its critically acclaimed Classical music series to the Old Operating Theatre, this place once filled with screams, now takes on the guise of a concert hall.
This is a unique after hours event that will take you back in time to witness a mock Victorian surgical demonstration presented within the original architecture of the old operating theatre of St. Thomas’s Hospital dated to 1822. Before the advent of anaesthesia, an operation had to be swift. Without hand-washing or antiseptics, the chance of later infection was high.
A Scotland Yard inspector investigates a series of mysterious deaths in the operating theatre of a Second World war emergency hospital, revealing a number of underlying motives and previously unknown connections. The idiosyncratic Alastair Sim features as the scrutineer who takes great pleasure in getting under the skin of his suspects. His sardonic, sarcastic character provides a wonderful counterpoint to the darkly atmospheric surroundings of the hospital.
From ‘the Maniac of Bedlam’ to Miss Havisham and Bertha Rochester, the concept of the ‘mad woman’ was a popular Victorian trope. ‘Madwomen’, both real and imaginary, became popular bogeywomen at a time when the medical establishment ruled that women were prone to madness simply by being female.
Animals and humans lived in close proximity in the medieval period. Both the reality of animal bites and the fear of the event loomed large in the medieval imagination. This talk will examine this subject from the writings of medical authors and practitioners, in order to understand what animals were especially feared and what actions could be taken to either prevent an attack or the best remedial measures afterwards, from eating walnuts when going through a snake-infested area to applying ointments on cat bites.
This experience will be divided into two parts: First, there will be a short overview by Dr. Nick Newton of the fear of illness and impending surgery on individuals in the 17th & 18th Century, followed by an introductory talk from Dr. Tim Smith, focusing on the aetiology and management of bladder stones in the pre-anaesthetic era. These brief introductions will set the scene for a concert by the Royal Baroque Ensemble, under the direction of Katarzyna Kowalik, of music composed by Marin, Lully, Froberger, Couperin and Zelenka reflecting the patient's anxieties concerning illness, surgery without anaesthesia and the close encounters with imminent or untimely death.
This is a unique after hours event that will take you back in time to witness a mock Victorian surgical demonstration presented within the original architecture of the old operating theatre of St. Thomas’s Hospital dated to 1822. Before the advent of anaesthesia, an operation had to be swift. Without hand-washing or antiseptics, the chance of later infection was high.
In the middle of the 19th century, a new participant entered the operating theatre. Sitting at the end of the operating table, largely unnoticed, the anaesthetist watched over the patient, observing everything around them. Many who took that seat were students, junior doctors, nurses, or even porters, but some were doctors who had elected to specialise in this emerging branch of medicine. One of these doctors was unique.
