Published in: News

A rare second opportunity to visit the Gordon Museum of Pathology

Author Roger Johnson

Published on: September 15, 2024

Following our very successful visit last year, The Sherlock Holmes Society of London has been offered a second opportunity to visit The Gordon Museum of Pathology at King’s College (Guy’s Campus) and to hear a lecture given by the Museum’s Director William (Bill) Edwards. There will be time to have a look around the Museum as well. This is an unprecedented opportunity – The Gordon Museum is not open to the public and is normally accessible only to students and members of the medical profession. It is a teaching collection, so some of the exhibits will be somewhat graphic.

Please note: that all forms of Photography, Filming and Social Media are prohibited whilst in the Gordon Museum

The event will be on Tuesday 1 October 2024 from 4pm to 6pm. While we understand that this time will not be suitable for many members, this was the only possible time the visit could be arranged. Enter through the Hodgkin Building, G on the campus map below, using the entrance in Newcomen Street opposite Bowling Green Place, by the Shuttle Bus Stop. The nearest tube stations are Borough and London Bridge. After the visit, we will repair to The George Inn, a short walk away. Built in 1676, it is London’s only surviving galleried inn. We will meet in The Winchester Room on the first floor. A light buffet will be provided and the first floor bar outside the room will be open for us – please buy your own drinks. A wider selection of draught beers will be available at the downstairs bar – but be warned, that bar is likely to be very busy. The George Inn, 75-77 Borough High Street, SE1 1NH

https://www.greeneking.co.uk/pubs/greater-london/george-southwark

King’s Gordon Museum of Pathology is the largest medical museum in the UK and one of the largest pathology Museums in the world. The rare and unique artefacts on display include Lister’s antiseptic spray and the original specimens which led Richard Bright, Thomas Addison and Thomas Hodgkin to describe the medical conditions that bear their names as well as the Joseph Towne anatomical and dermatological wax models collection. The earliest specimen actually dates from around 1608.

The Museum’s primary function has always been to help train medical, dental and biomedical students and professionals to diagnose disease, encouraging learning from the past in order to impact positively on contemporary and future healthcare developments. The specimens were first collected by Thomas Hodgkin, who became the first Medical Curator in the first Medical School which was opened in 1826. Under Hodgkin’s Curatorship the Museum became well established – his catalogue of 1829 listed some 3,000 exhibits. The collection grew in size, expanding into further museum space. In 1861 the London Journal of Medicine reported that the “Museums are on a scale which entitles them to rank among the first of our national collections”. These Museums contained collections relating to Natural History and Comparative Anatomy as well as the very good systematic collection of Human Pathology. In 1890 an extra year was added to the Medical School curriculum, so a new school was built, the present school (now known as the Hodgkin Building). The Museum was built solely with a donation from the lawyer Robert Gordon, 1829-1918, and opened in 1905. The building is a Victorian-style cast iron and glass construction, similar to Crystal Palace, divided into four sections with two storeys of galleries overlooking each quarter of the ground floor. Intended to be a teaching resource devoted purely to human material, the Comparative Anatomy collections were removed. The Gordon Museum continued to develop new specimen collections, collect Medical and Dental instruments, equipment and ephemera becoming the country’s largest teaching medical museum with close to 8,000 pathological specimens on display.

Members and their guests may opt to attend the Gordon Museum and lecture only at £12 per head, £10 of which will be passed by The Society to the Museum as a donation. The cost for the lecture and reception afterwards is £24 per head. This includes VAT and service but not drinks, which must be paid for on the day.

Dress is smart casual and gentlemen are asked to wear a jacket and tie.

If you wish for vegetarian food, please advise the Meetings Secretary by email at the time you book. The email address is advised below.

Applications should be sent to arrive not later than Friday 20^th September.

Anyone attending a Society function for the first time should indicate this on the booking form, so that we can identify them and introduce them to our members. We look forward to seeing everyone on the night.

The Society likes to keep a record of its activities, including photographs of our meetings which are published in the Journal and on the Society’s website/Facebook page. If you do not want to appear in a Society photograph please avoid being in any posed photographs and advise one of the meeting organisers.