Award-winning Surgeons’ Hall Museums, owned by The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), welcomed over 10,000 visitors in July 2019.
The Museums, which holds a five-star rating from VisitScotland, house the largest and most historic pathology collections in the UK. Interactive exhibits offer a wide variety of insights into healthcare through the years, with displays including Arthur Conan Doyle’s inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, Dr Joseph Bell.
Surgeons’ Hall Museums underwent a £4 million transformation in 2015, supported by a £2.7 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant, and was the first time the building had been significantly altered since 1908. It houses the Lister Project, which was recognised as the best permanent exhibition in the UK by the Museums + Heritage Awards for Excellence in 2016.
Director of Heritage, Chris Henry, said:
“This demonstrates the appetite visitors have for our establishment as well as the dedication of the team ensuring that people want to visit. It also demonstrates that this museum can combine research, visits, education, events and entertainment and still be financially sustainable in the long term.”
Autumn is set to be as eventful with the Museums programme full of activity. There will be a creative writing workshop led by acclaimed novelist ES Thomson which offers a behind the scenes look at Surgeons’ Hall Museums. Adventures in Anatomy, a new talk series delivered by Human Remains Conservator, Cat Irving, will explore how our understanding of the body has changed over time.
At the end of October, Surgeons’ Hall Museums will once again be participating in the hugely successful Museums at Night festival by hosting heart dissection workshops for adults.
Drop-in sessions available as part of Museums admission will include Looking at Microscopes and World Restart a Heart Day CPR lessons.
The Museums currently run Blood and Guts: The Twists and Turns of Edinburgh’s Medical History walking tour which is available every Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. Tickets for the tour also include Museums access.
Details for all events and tickets can be found on our website.