Surgeons' Hall facts for kids
Surgeons Hall Museum
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| Established | 1697 |
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| Location | Nicolson Street, Edinburgh |
| Public transit access | Lothian Region buses 3,5,7,8,14,29, 30, 31,33,37, 47, 49 to Nicolson Street |
The Surgeons' Hall Museum in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a really interesting place to visit. It's the main medical museum in Scotland and one of Edinburgh's popular tourist spots. The museum is part of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), which is a group for surgeons.
The building itself, called Surgeons' Hall, was finished in 1832. It was designed by a famous architect named William Henry Playfair. The museum has a huge collection of items that tell the story of surgery and medicine over hundreds of years. It's even recognized as a very important collection by the Scottish Government. The museum got a big makeover and reopened in September 2015, making it even better for visitors.
Contents
History of the Museum
How It Started
The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh started a long time ago, on July 1, 1505. Back then, it was called "The Incorporation of Surgeons and Barbers of Edinburgh." Yes, barbers were linked to surgeons because they often did small medical procedures! Later, in 1722, barbers were no longer part of the group.
The museum itself began in 1699. The surgeons wanted to collect "natural and artificial curiosities." They even put an advertisement in the Edinburgh Gazette, which was a local newspaper. An early visitor in 1726, Daniel Defoe (who wrote Robinson Crusoe), said the museum had "many curious things." A lot of these early items were given to the University of Edinburgh in the 1760s.
Growing Bigger in the 1800s
In the early 1800s, the group became the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Their main job was to teach anatomy (the study of the body) and surgery. They also trained surgeons and tested their knowledge. To do this, they needed lots of specimens (samples) related to anatomy and diseases.
The museum grew a lot when it got two big collections. John Barclay, a successful anatomy teacher, gave his collection. Also, Sir Charles Bell, a professor of surgery, sold his collection to the museum. These collections were too big for the old building. So, the surgeons asked William Henry Playfair to design the new Surgeons' Hall, which opened in 1832. At first, the whole top floor was for the museum, and many people came to visit!
Over the years, surgeons and scientists kept donating interesting specimens, surgical tools, and equipment. As science and technology advanced, the museum started getting things like X-rays and early anesthetic equipment.
Changes in the 1900s
At the start of the 1900s, about half of the museum space was turned into a big meeting hall for the College. Some people thought the old collections were not useful anymore. But luckily, the important Barclay collection was saved and moved to a new area.
As time went on, jars with body parts were seen as less helpful for teaching new surgeons. The museum started focusing on special areas like dentistry and X-rays. By the 1960s, it was harder for the public to visit. You usually needed to book a special tour.
Making a Comeback
In the late 1900s, the museum decided to make its collections more interesting and easier for everyone to understand. In 1989, a new exhibit called 500 Years of Surgery in Scotland opened. It used models, paintings, photos, and even old newspapers to tell the story. This made the museum much more popular, and more visitors started coming.
Modern Expansion
In 2015, the College announced plans for a big expansion. They took over a nearby building and turned it into a new conference and events center. This new part, called the Prince Philip Building, opened in 2016.
The Museum Buildings Today
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The museum collections first filled the entire top floor of Playfair's Surgeons' Hall. Even though some space was changed in 1905, the original Playfair pathology museum still looks much like it did then. It's now called the Wohl Pathology Museum. Other parts of the museum, like the History of Surgery museum and the dental collection, are in nearby rooms that were once part of another building.
Big Upgrade in 2014–2015
The museum closed for a major upgrade in June 2014. This work added a lift for easier access and made the displays much better and more modern. It was the first big change to the building since 1908! The museum reopened in September 2015, and now it can show twice as many items. The project cost £4.2 million, with a lot of help from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Amazing Collections
The Charles Bell Collection
Charles Bell was born in Edinburgh in 1774. He became a surgeon and was very good at drawing. He used his artistic skills to illustrate his many textbooks. In 1809, he went to help soldiers injured in the Battle of Corunna. There, he created 15 oil paintings showing details of their gunshot wounds. These paintings are on display in the museum and show us what injuries looked like back then.
Bell collected many anatomy and pathology specimens. In 1825, he sold this huge collection to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for £3000 (which would be a lot of money today!). This collection was shipped to Edinburgh and became the main part of the Playfair Museum when it opened in 1832. Many of these items are still on display!
The Barclay Collection
John Barclay (1758–1826) was a famous anatomy teacher. He had a collection of about 2,500 specimens, which he gave to the museum. By the 1950s, most of this collection was given to other museums. Today, only a few items remain, like an elephant skull and some human skeletons.
The Greig Collection
This collection has about 250 skulls. It was given to the museum by David Middleton Greig (1864–1936), who was in charge of the museum for a while. Greig was an expert on bone diseases and skull problems. He collected these skulls during his work, and he kept detailed notes, drawings, and photos for each one.
The Menzies Campbell Collection
John Menzies Campbell (1887–1974) was a dentist and a historian of dentistry. Over his life, he collected a huge number of items related to dentistry. This included specimens, instruments, and paintings. He donated it all to the museum in 1964. The display even includes a 19th-century dentist's office, complete with old tools!
Casts and Moulages
In the 1800s and early 1900s, people used wax and plaster casts, called moulages, to show diseases and body problems. These were great for teaching. The museum has several of these casts. They show things like tumors of the face and eye, how babies develop before birth, and problems with the intestines.
Cool Connections
Sherlock Holmes and Joseph Bell
Joseph Bell (1837–1911) was an Edinburgh surgeon and a very popular teacher. He was known for being super observant and could figure out a lot about people just by looking at small details. One of his medical students was Arthur Conan Doyle, who later became a famous writer.
Conan Doyle stopped practicing medicine and became rich and famous for his Sherlock Holmes stories. He wrote to Joseph Bell, saying, "...it is most certainly to you that I owe Sherlock Holmes." Bell's amazing observation skills inspired the famous detective!
The Edinburgh Seven
In November 1870, something big happened at Surgeons' Hall. The first group of female medical students from the University of Edinburgh tried to take their anatomy exam there. A crowd, including male medical students, tried to stop them from entering the building. This event became known as the Surgeons' Hall riot.
These seven brave women faced a lot of unfair treatment during their studies. But they also got support from others. Many of these "Edinburgh Seven" women went on to open new hospitals and made huge improvements to healthcare for women around the world.
Exhibitions and Learning
The museum often has special exhibitions. Some recent topics have included: breast cancer care, Charles Bell, chloroform, Joseph Lister (a pioneer in surgery), women's hospitals, and James Young Simpson (who used chloroform in medicine).
Education for Students
Since 2006, the museum has had a full-time education officer. They offer regular tours and workshops especially for school students. It's a great place to learn about the human body and medical history!
Connecting with Everyone
The museum also has a Public Engagement Officer who organizes many events throughout the year. These events explore different parts of the museum's collections and make them interesting for all ages. They work with writers, artists, musicians, and volunteers to offer talks, classes, and workshops.
Research at the Museum
Researchers use the museum's collections to learn new things. Recent projects have looked at things like genetic markers for diseases, rebuilding faces from skulls in the Greig collection, and using MRI scans to diagnose bone diseases.
The Collections Today
The museum has four main permanent displays:
Wohl Pathology Museum
This museum is in the Playfair Hall. It shows pathology specimens (samples of diseased tissues), surgical instruments, casts, and paintings.
History of Surgery Museum
On the ground floor, there's a mock anatomy theater. Here, you can watch a short video about a public dissection that happened in 1702. As different body parts are talked about, they are shown on a plastic model of a body. The displays here also trace the history of surgery from the 1500s to today, focusing on Edinburgh's important role.
Techniques and Technologies and Dental Collection
This section shows surgical instruments and techniques from ancient Roman times all the way to today. The original Menzies Campbell collection has grown, and it now includes many dental instruments, artifacts, and artworks about dentistry.
Body Voyager Gallery
The Body Voyager gallery shows off the latest advances in robotic surgery. It's divided into three areas: the head, the torso, and the limbs. You can even try out an interactive computer that feels like a robotic surgery console! There are also displays of real surgical instruments, videos, and photos.
The museum also has an "anatomy lab" for demonstrations and lectures, and a gallery for temporary exhibitions.
Today, the museum focuses on helping everyone understand surgical diseases, how they were treated in the past, and how they are treated now. They use videos, hands-on surgical simulators, and touch screen displays to make learning fun and easy.
Other Uses of the Hall
The Quincentenary Conference Centre, which is a modern part of the Surgeons' Hall site, is used as a theater venue every August during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It's known as theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall during this time.
