Old Operating Theatre Museumand Herb Garret

Reached by a 52-step spiral staircase inside the garret of St Thomas's Church, the Old Operating Theatre Museum occupies the space where surgeons operated on women from St Thomas' Hospital before anaesthetic was in general use. The theatre itself was built in 1822 and closed when the hospital moved to Lambeth in 1862, then lay sealed until it was rediscovered in 1957 and opened to visitors in 1962. It is run as an independent charity, the Lord Brock Trust, rather than by a council or the NHS. Cases hold surgical instruments, preserved anatomical specimens and herbs from the adjoining garret, once used to dry medicinal plants for the hospital's apothecary. The museum opens Thursday to Sunday, 10:30am to 5pm, last admission 4:15pm, and charges ten pounds for adults and less for children aged five to sixteen.