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Monday 10am - 6pm Tuesday 10am - 5pm Wednesday 10am - 5pm Thursday 10am - 5pm Friday 10am - 5pm

Hunterian Museum, London

Name: Hunterian Museum, London
Address: Royal College of Surgeons, 35/43 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC2A3PE, GB
Telephone: +442078696560
Price range: $
Rating: 4.6

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Hunterian Museum, London

Discover the art and science of surgery from ancient times to the present day.
(759)

The Hunterian will be closed to the public until early 2023 as part of the major redevelopment of the College of Surgeons. When we reopen we look forward to welcoming the public into new fully accessible spaces that will tell the history and ongoing story of surgery.

01/09/2026

New exhibition – The Operating Theatre: 250 years of Surgery in Hospitals

Thursday 10 September – Saturday 31 October 2026
Wednesdays – Saturdays
Hunterian Museum, Royal College of Surgeons of England

Explore 250 years of change in one of surgery’s most recognisable, though often hidden, spaces. Through paintings, photographs, objects and design plans, the exhibition reveals how advances in anaesthesia, antisepsis, technology and hospital design transformed the operating theatre and the experience of surgery itself.

Free entry to the Hunterian Museum. Plan your visit today - https://hunterianmuseum.org/exhibitions/the-operating-theatre-250-years

Credit
Postcard from Leeds Infirmary, 1906

16/07/2026

Noisy and enclosed, MRI machines are a difficult place for a child to lie still for a scan. Miniature models like this one help prepare young patients for a scan and avoid the need for a sedative or a general anaesthetic. Press the buttons and it can even recreate the thudding and knocking sounds made by a real MRI scanner.

The object was kindly donated by .healthineers

Credit - Miniature MRI scanner model, Siemens Healthineers, 2015. RCSIC/Z 158

Alt Text - Photos and a short video of a miniature MRI scanner model made by Siemens Healthineers. In some photos a small toy patient lies on the scanner bed entering the circular opening of the scanner.

25/06/2026

Imagine if you could taste everything you hold.

Octopuses can do just that – the suckers that line each of their arms have sensory receptors that can 'taste' and 'smell' things that they touch.

Each sucker is made of muscle and can change shape when it touches an object, contracting to form a tight seal and create suction, allowing it to grip tightly to surfaces.

Each octopus arm also has its own cluster of nerve cells – a 'mini brain' – that allows each arm to act independently.

Octopuses can use these amazing arms to catch pray and move objects with incredible dexterity – they can even open jars and use tools!

Credit

Arm of an octopus, 1760–93, Hunterian Collection. RCSHC/2080

14/05/2026

This remarkably realistic wax model of a human brain dates from the 1800s.

Wax models like this were essential for teaching medical students, acting as accurate and durable alternatives to real human tissue.

This one was made by the self-trained sculptor Joseph Towne (1806-79). He was the model maker at Guy’s Hospital, London, for 53 years, and made over a thousand hyper-realistic wax models depicting anatomical structures and pathological conditions.

Although Towne worked closely with medical staff to record clinical cases and dissections, he was very secretive about his techniques. He worked alone and reportedly blocked the keyhole to his workshop room with wax to prevent spying.

The majority of Towne's works remain at the Gordon Museum of Pathology at King's College London.

Credit
Wax model of a human brain, cross-sectioned, by Joseph Towne, 1826-79. Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. RCSAC/214

28/04/2026

The exhibition ‘Insight: Portraits of Women in Surgery’ welcomed over 5000 visitors before closing last week.

If you missed out on the exhibition, or would like to revisit some of its inspiring stories, the portraits are now available to explore as a new online exhibition – https://hunterianmuseum.org/online-exhibitions/insight-portraits-of-women-in-surgery

Thank you to everyone who visited, and to all the surgeons and photographers who contributed!

22/04/2026

Tourniquets are used to reduce or stop the flow of blood to a limb. They might be used during surgery to create a bloodless operating field, or in some emergency situations to control catastrophic bleeding.

The arrival of the Petit tourniquet in 1718 made the control of blood loss from a limb much simpler. Using a screw to tighten and loosen the bandage, it could be held without assistance and relaxed or released with greater ease. It was invented by Jean-Louis Petit (1674–1760), a French surgeon.

Watch Alice, Hunterian Museum Curator, to learn more.

Credit
1. Petit Spiral screw tourniquet by Arnold, mid 1800s. Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons. RCSIC/I 32.6
2. ‘Illustrations of the Great Operations of Surgery’ by Charles Bell, London, 1821. From the Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of England

[In this video, Alice addresses the camera while standing in front of a tourniquet on a white surface. The tourniquet consists of a light brown circular bandage with a metal screw mechanism and leather pad. Alice has short brown hair and wears a blue check cardigan and purple gloves.]

02/04/2026

Going on an egg hunt this weekend? 🐣

If you find any that look like this be sure to leave them alone — they are definitely not chocolate, they are grass snake eggs!

Grass snakes are the only UK snake species that lay eggs. They are one of three species of snake native to the UK, along with the adder and the smooth snake, which is very rare. Grass snakes usually lay their eggs in a sheltered location within rotting vegetation, like a compost heap.

These eggs are from John Hunter's specimen collection and are over 200 years old. Grass snakes lay between 10 and 40 eggs at a time, so it is likely that these were all taken from the same clutch of eggs. They were preserved shortly after being laid.

Credit
Grass snake eggs, 1760–93, Hunterian Collection. RCSHC/3304

Address

Royal College Of Surgeons, 35/43 Lincoln's Inn Fields
London
WC2A3PE

Opening Hours

Monday	10am - 6pm
Tuesday	10am - 5pm
Wednesday	10am - 5pm
Thursday	10am - 5pm
Friday	10am - 5pm

Telephone

+442078696560

Website

http://www.hunterianmuseum.org/

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