The Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret

Hidden in the attic of St Thomas’s Church in Southwark, sealed off and forgotten for nearly a century, lies Britain’s oldest surviving surgical operating theatre. Built in 1822, it served St Thomas’s Hospital until 1862, when the hospital relocated and the theatre was abandoned. Rediscovered in 1956, it now serves as a museum of surgical history—and as home to the restless spirits of those who suffered through surgery before the advent of anesthesia.

The operating theatre was built in an era when surgery was a last resort and often fatal. Patients were held down by strong assistants while surgeons worked as quickly as possible to minimize the time spent in agony. Amputations, the most common procedure, took 2-3 minutes from first cut to final stitch. The wooden operating table is still stained with the blood of hundreds of patients, and sawdust was spread on the floor to soak up the gore. Medical students would crowd into the surrounding galleries to watch, creating an amphitheatre of horror. The mortality rate was approximately 40%, and many patients died from shock, blood loss, or subsequent infection.

Visitors and staff report intense paranormal activity. The most common experience is the overwhelming smell of blood and rotting flesh that appears suddenly and then vanishes. Others report hearing screaming and sobbing when the museum is empty. Shadow figures have been seen on the operating table, and some visitors have felt invisible hands grabbing at them, as if the phantom patients are still struggling against the surgeons. Museum staff have found surgical instruments moved overnight, and motion sensors frequently trigger without visible cause. Photographs often reveal strange mists and orbs around the operating table. The combination of extreme suffering and violent death has left an indelible psychic impression on this space, making it one of London’s most disturbing haunted locations.