Venue Description

Surgeons' Hall Museums (SHM) are owned by The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) and consist of the Wohl Pathology Museum, the History of Surgery Museum and The Dental Collection. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh was founded in 1505, with the Museums' collections growing significantly from 1699 after 'natural and artificial curiosities' were publicly sought. In the 1800s, the original museum expanded to include the remarkable collections of surgeon and anatomists, Sir Charles Bell and John Barclay. Originally developed as a teaching museum for students of medicine, SHM's fascinating collections, including bone and tissue specimens, artefacts and works of art, have been open to the public since 1832, making SHM among Scotland's oldest museums. The Wohl Pathology Museum is also home to one of the largest and most historic collections of surgical pathology in the world. With support from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2014, the Museums underwent a major redevelopment called The Lister Project. The Lister Project was an initiative by RCSEd that focused on the College’s heritage and helped create a new and enhanced public space within the Museums to inform and share with the general public the historical journey of surgery and its advances. The Museums also exhibit interpretation that inspires public engagement through interactive computer simulation, audience participation devices, film and user-friendly textual explanation and encourages them to think about health and wellbeing.

Accessibility

The entrance to the museum is level with automatic doors. All levels of the museum can be accessed by a standard lift with doors. All areas of the museum are accessible however, there is a portion of the upper gallery in the Wohl Pathology Museum that may not be accessible to wheelchairs wider than 66cm. However, we do have narrower wheelchairs available for those who can transfer and there are accessible interactive touch screens which display the items in these restricted sections.

Accessibility Guide

Accessibility Guide Link: https://museum.rcsed.ac.uk/plan-your-visit/accessibility

Access Statement

Access Statement Link: https://museum.rcsed.ac.uk/media/80276/Surgeons-Hall-Museum-Access-Guide.pdf

Awards List

5 star Visit Scotland attraction. TripAdvisor Travelers Choice 2021 Museums and Heritage Best Permanent Exhibition 2016

Toilets

There are accessible toilets with step free access located in the basement. The basement is accessible by lift. The toilet door is 876mm wide. • The direction of transfer onto the toilet is to the right. There is 939mm at the side of the toilet. There is 1219mm in front of the toilet. The toilet seat is 482mm high. The toilets have handrails. The toilets are fully accessible by lift and can be found on level -1. The door leading into to the toilet corridor is 354 mm. There is one accessible toilet. The sink is 736.6 mm from the floor and the hand dryer is also 736.6 mm from the floor.

Staff

Information about the staff has not been added for this venue.