old operating theatre/london

On my visit to London in September, I visited the Old Operating Theatre Museum. Truth be told, this was one of my "I am not leaving without visiting" destinations. I love things like this! Maybe it is because I was weaned on Masterpiece Theatre, or that I have a fascination with surgery (I have photographed a few...) - I don't really know, but the room itself did not disappoint. It is surprisingly small and the details (like the little box of sawdust under the table to soak up the blood) added so much to my imagining this room in use. It is rather horrific to think what it would have been like to have had surgery without all the modern advances like anesthetic, X-rays, etc. - you know little things like that. There was a display of old surgical instruments that was rather harrowing/fascinating as well.
The theatre is located in the attic of an old church which added a layer of intrigue to the visit. We had to climb up a spiral staircase into the attic and then go through another part of the "museum" that was filled with old apothecary artifacts called the "Herb Garret". That part of the museum was a little hokey in my estimation, but hey...what ever floats your boat. I added a couple images of the Herb Garret at the end there. Funky, right? Wonder what the alligators were used for...