National Sisters Day - Museum Talk & Tour
Florence Nightingale Museum
03 Aug 2025 | 10:30 AM
Did you know that there were two Nightingale sisters?
That’s right! Florence and Parthenope Nightingale were close in age and were named after the cities they grew up in.
They were both born into an upper-class life of wealth and expectation, but chose to follow very different paths.
In honour of National Sisters Day we are hosting a special museum talk & tour which will delve into the complex relationship between the two sisters and highlight their accomplishments.
Talk & Tours will be held at 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm and are included in all general admission tickets.
Meet Mary Seacole & Mix A Medicine
Florence Nightingale Museum
06 Aug 2025 | 10:30 AM
Join us at the museum Wednesday 6th August for a special historical performance and interactive activity.
To celebrate Jamaican Independence Day we will be highlighting Mary Seacole and her work all day. Follow in Mary Seacole’s footsteps and ‘Mix A Medicine’! Diagnose an injured soldier, choose a remedy to make them better, and mix it up. Learn about Seacole’s work, herbal remedies, and the Crimean War in this interactive activity.
Our extra special performances of ‘Meet Mary Seacole’ will be at 11:30am, 1:30pm, 3:30pm. Hear about her life and how she helped soldiers during the Crimean War. Discover her story and find out how she became known as ‘Mother Seacole’.
Tickets can be purchased online and in person.
Florence Nightingale’s London Walking Tour
Florence Nightingale Museum
13 Aug 2025 | 10:00 AM
Date: Wednesday 13th August- the anniversary of Nightingale’s Death
Walk in the footsteps of the ‘mother of nursing’ and discover the life of Florence Nightingale through the places where she lived and worked. From the house where she spent the last days of her long life, the hotel where she wrote her famous Notes on Nursing, the shops where she made some of her purchases, to the statue of the Lady with the Lamp. Along the way, we take a look at her life and visit London as she knew it.
This walk lasts approximately 2 hours, and will be conducted at a reasonable walking pace so please wear appropriate footwear.
Ticket Price: £16 per person - Walking Tour Only ; £25 per person - Walking Tour + Museum Visit (includes special drop in Object Handling session with our friends at Old Operating Theatre)
Please book your place online through our website.
Meet “The Herbal Woman” of Old St Thomas’
20 Aug 2025 | 09:30 AM
Actor Abigail Halley will be bringing to life the Herbal Woman who sold her herbs to the apothecary of Old St Thomas’ Hospital, which were then taken to the Herb Garret to dry and cure.
Through a range of multi sensory partipatory activities discover more about herbalism in the 18th century. You can even make your very own pomander to take home!
Surgery and the Victorian Operating Theatre
30 Aug 2025 | 09:00 AM
Join us at the Old Operating Theatre Museum & Herb Garret as our team takes you back to the Victorian era and explores the surgical procedures that were once carried out in our space. To understand the dramatic location of the operating theatre in the attic of a church, they will first explore the origins and history of Old St Thomas’ Hospital and a quick overview of the medical profession. They will then describe the most common surgical procedures that would have taken place in this original space over 200 years ago. Listen as the team delve into the horrors of surgery before the arrival of anaesthesia and antiseptics that helped pave the way to our modern medical procedures.
Delivered in the oldest surviving surgical theatre in Europe, you will see the original space located in the attic of an 18th century church, where up to 150 medical students would have once gathered and learned their trade.
