Thackray Museum of Medicine facts for kids
Museum entrance
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| Established | March 1997 |
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| Location | Beckett Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England |
| Type | Medical museum |
The Thackray Museum of Medicine is a fascinating museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It teaches visitors all about the history of medicine. The museum is located right next to St James's University Hospital. It first opened its doors in March 1997.
In 1998, the museum won the "Museum of the Year" award. It has also received other important awards. These include the "Excellence in England Small Tourist Attraction of the Year" in 2004. It also won the "Sandford Award for Heritage Education" in the same year.
The museum closed for a big update in 2019. This £4 million project made the museum even better. It reopened on May 17, 2021. After its reopening, the museum was nominated for the Art Fund's Museum of the Year award in 2021. It also received a special mention from the European Museum Forum in 2023.
Contents
Museum's Story: From Workhouse to Museum
The building where the museum stands has a long history. It is a Grade II listed building, which means it's a special historic place. It used to be the Leeds Union Workhouse. This workhouse opened in 1861. It was built to house many people who were poor or in need.
By the late 1800s, the building was mostly used for medical care. It helped sick people who were poor. During the First World War, it became the East Leeds War Hospital. It cared for soldiers who were injured. Later, it became part of St James's Hospital. It even had the first ward for older patients in northern England.
The building was known as the Ashley Wing. It was part of the hospital until the 1990s. At that time, the old workhouse building was not suitable for modern medicine. Because it was a listed building, it could not be torn down. So, the government allowed it to become the Thackray Medical Museum. The museum officially opened in 1997.
How the Museum Began
The museum's story started with Charles Thackray. He opened a small chemist shop in Leeds in 1902. This shop grew into a major medical company. It was called Chas F Thackray Limited. The company made medicines and medical tools. They even helped create the first hip replacement surgery with Sir John Charnley.
In the 1980s, Charles Thackray's grandson, Paul Thackray, started a small collection. This collection kept records and items from the company. In 1990, a special group was set up to grow this collection. This led to the creation of the museum we see today.
Helping During the COVID-19 Pandemic
The museum's big renovation project happened during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This caused delays in its reopening plans. In October 2020, the museum received money to help it reopen safely.
While the museum was closed, it did something amazing. It became the first museum in the UK to be a COVID-19 vaccination center. It also hosted important trials for the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. Examples of the vaccines used are now part of the museum's collection.
During its closure, the museum also created an online exhibition. It worked with the University of Huddersfield. This exhibition was called Mothers in Lockdown.
Exploring the Museum's Galleries
The museum has eleven main galleries. It also has a special gallery for temporary shows. Each gallery tells a different part of medical history.
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Disease Street
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Disease Detectives
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Disease Den
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Cutting Edge
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Normal+Me
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Apothecary
- Disease Street takes you back to Victorian Leeds. You can experience the sights, sounds, and even smells of a slum. It shows the health problems people faced back then.
- The Victorian Operating Theatre shows what surgery was like long ago. This was before doctors used antiseptics or pain relief. A film shows a surgery from that time.
- Making Us Well, Outside In explores how public health improved in Victorian times. It covers everything from cleaning up air pollution to building sewers.
- Disease Detectives looks at how medical science grew. It explains how we learned about germs and tiny microbes. There's also a quiet area called Disease Den to relax.
- Cutting Edge highlights new ideas and clever inventions in medicine.
- Response to Crisis shows how medical advances happen quickly during emergencies. This includes times of war or pandemics. This area includes a 1970s-style health clinic.
- Normal + Me is a gallery that explores what "normal" means to different people.
- Who Cares? is about all the different people who help care for us. This includes doctors, nurses, and many other health workers.
- The Apothecary shows the history of making and giving out medicines. It covers from the 1600s to today.
The museum also has Sparks!, a fun play area for children under five. It has medical-themed role play and soft play. You can visit this area with a museum ticket or book it separately.
Special Exhibitions
The museum often hosts two new exhibitions each year. These temporary shows explore different topics in medicine.
- On the Bench (2023) shared stories about sports injuries. It included contributions from famous athletes like Leeds Rhinos captain Stevie Ward.
- Fragile Microbiomes (2024) was an art show by bioartist Anna Dumitriu. It combined modern art and microbiology. It looked at the history of infectious diseases and the world of tiny microbes.
- You Choose (2024) was about personalized medicine. It explored how personal choices can affect healthcare. It also looked at new medical technology. This included AI, 3D printing, and digital twins.
- Blood: Ties and Tensions (2025) explores the meaning of blood and blood donation. This exhibition is made with experts from the University of Leeds.
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A 3D pharmaceutical printer on display during the You Choose exhibition
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Plague Dress by Anna Dumitriu, on display during the Fragile Microbiomes exhibition
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Vessel, a sculpture by Gemma Wood, on display as part of the Blood: Ties and Tensions exhibition.
Museum's Collection
The Thackray Museum of Medicine has a huge collection. It holds over 47,000 objects from medical history. These items date from Roman times to today. The museum also has 15,000 old product catalogs and 9,000 books about medicine.
Some special items include Prince Albert's personal medicine chest. There's also a unique embroidered piece by workhouse resident Lorina Bulwer. The collection is very strong in European surgical tools from the 1600s to now. It also has a very important collection of hearing aids. This includes the British Society of Audiology collection. You can explore many of these items online.
Learning and Education
About 20,000 school students visit the museum every year. The museum offers many programs for schools. These include classroom activities, educational resources, and loan boxes. They also host events for teachers. The museum has won the Sandford Award for Heritage Education for its great work.
The museum also has a public lecture series. These talks happen on Saturday mornings from October to March. They focus on how health and medicine have changed over time.
See also
- Listed buildings in Leeds (Gipton and Harehills Ward)
Images for kids
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Museum galleries before the 2019 closure
