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Royal London Hospital Review

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Royal London Hospital

Address: Whitechapel Rd., East End, London, E1 1BB | Map It
Phone: 020/7377-7608
www.medicalmuseums.org

Category: Hospitals
Location: East End

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Fodor's Review:

Founded in 1740, the Royal London was once as nasty as its then-neighborhood near the Tower of London. Waste was carried out in buckets and dumped in the street; bedbugs and alcoholic nurses were problems; but according to hospital records patients didn't die—they were "relieved." In 1757 the hospital moved to its present site, and the original building forms the core of the one you see today. By then it had become one of the best hospitals in London, and it was enhanced further by the addition of a small medical school in 1785, and again, 70 years later, by an entire state-of-the-art medical college. Thomas John Barnado, who went on to found the famous Dr. Barnado's Homes for Orphans, came to train here in 1866. Ten years later the hospital grew to become the largest in the United Kingdom, and now, though mostly rebuilt since World War II, it remains one of London's most capacious. To get an idea of the huge medical leaps forward, walk through the main entrance and garden to the crypt of St. Augustine within St. Philip's Church (alternatively, go directly two blocks south to the entrance on Newark Street), to the Royal London Hospital Museum (Weekdays 10-4:30), where displays of medical paraphernalia, objects, and documentation illustrate the more-than-250-year history of this East London institution. The museum often closes on short notice, so call before you go.

Cost: Free
Open: Hospital and garden daily 9-6
Tube: Whitechapel

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