Old Operating Theatre
By Marcia W and Freya W both 10EFR
On the week beginning of March 2 Year 10 History students went to the Old operating theatre in Central London. nd, We arrived around 12:00 and started to climb the spiral staircase until we reached the Operating theatre . When we entered we sat in the surrounding stands where previous surgeons stood when watching a live operation. The first thing I noticed about the operating theatre was how small it was. It was shaped like a circle with wooden benches going up around the sides where medical students would stand and watch the surgery. In the middle there was a simple wooden table where the patient would lie in the operation. There were old surgical tools on a small table nearby and a coat with fake blood on it for show. There was also a big window over the table so the surgeons could see in the day. The whole room was wooden and looked really old, which made it easier to imagine what it would have been like back when surgeries actually happened there. The theatre itself was built in the attic of a church and was actually part of a hospital ward that was used only for women. It was fascinating to learn that this space would once have been full of patients being treated many centuries ago.
activities to try. I enjoyed making small herbal tea bags using cloves, cinnamon and other herbs that might have been used for remedies in old hospitals. We saw preserved human body parts used for medical study, and smelled different soaps and strange ingredients that were once used in medicine. It was fun getting to try something ourselves rather than just looking at things behind glass. The trip made me think about how crucial understanding is in our daily lives, and how weird medicine from years ago seems today. Overall, it was a really good experience. It was especially interesting for history students, but its enjoyable for anyone who is curious about medicine and its gruesome but interesting past.
During the talk we learned about the early history of St Thomas’s Hospital. The hospital originally began as an infirmary at St Mary Overie (which is now Southwark Cathedral) in the early 12th century. It was run by Augustinian monks and nuns and later dedicated to St Thomas Becket. After a large fire the hospital moved to Sit Thomas’ street. Later in the 1500s, after the Reformation, the hospital closed for several years but was reopened by Edward VI.
We were shown how surgery used to be carried out in the operating theatre. There was a funny demonstration where a student pretended to have a leg amputated, which helped show how operations might have looked in the past. We learned about improved hygiene to stop infections. We saw how dangerous and painful operations were before modern medicine It made me realise how much medicine has changed over time and how important those discoveries were. We explored the museum area, there were lots of hands-on
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