St Bartholomew’s Hospital Museum
This small museum charting the history of St Bart’s Hospital is definitely worth a visit. If you are asked if you want to watch the seven-minute long introductory video, say yes – it might be slightly cheesy in places, but it gives a good account of how the hospital and neighbouring priory were founded by the monk Rahere in 1123. The opening exhibits of the museum then show some of the oldest documents pertaining to the hospital, before explaining how it survived Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries.
The rest of the collection then mostly shows how the hospital developed alongside changes in society and medical technology, or looks into the lives of those who worked there. One display explains why nurses trained by St Bart’s were considered superior to those trained by other hospitals, while a nearby case contains personal items belonging to the nurses and some of their patients. Other cabinets hold significant items used in training physicians or surgeons (such as a wooden head for practising trepanning), or key items in medical history (such as the antibacterial carbolic acid spray).
Art lovers will be pleased to read that, at a viewpoint in the corner of the museum, two great murals by William Hogarth can be seen. Depicting the Good Samaritan and Christ at Bethesda, they were allegedly painted for free to prevent an Italian artist from getting the commission.
Literary lovers should also keep a keen eye open for a small plaque commemorating the first meeting between a certain Mr Holmes and Dr Watson, which took place in the chemistry laboratory of the hospital (now no longer in existence, hence the plaque is not quite in the most appropriate place).
