Where In the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s (RPS) headquarters in Tower Hill, east London.
What The museum displays six centuries worth of items relating to the history of British pharmacies, showing the weird and worrisome ways pharmacists have attempted to cure ailments and illnesses. “We are the only museum systematically collecting and researching this area,” says John Betts, the keeper of the collection.
Opened Established in 1842 as a teaching resource for students at the School of Pharmacy in Bloomsbury Square, London, the museum opened to the public in the 20th century. It has relocated several times, as the RPS moved headquarters, and reopened at this site last year.
Collection There are 45,000 items in the collection, dating from 1400 to the present day. Themed displays include brand-name medicines stretching back to the 17th century, dispensing equipment that pharmacists of the past would use to prepare medicine and a selection of drug jars, which Betts says give “a fascinating insight into the remedies in use during the 1600s and 1700s”. He adds: “The museum also has a collection of medical prints and caricatures, including examples by George Cruikshank, James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, which question the knowledge of medical professionals.”
Highlights “The museum has the oldest known English Delftware drug jar, made in London in 1647,” says Betts. The penicillin culture vessels on display were used by researchers at the University of Oxford who developed penicillin for mass production in the 1930s. Betts notes that “visitors are fascinated by the Burges collection”, a grouping of preserved animal products that John Burges created for his 18th-century apothecary. “It includes toads, seahorses, bezoar stones and mummified human remains – the last of which was ground up and used to treat epilepsy,” Betts adds.
Help at hand The museum is run by the RPS. It employs two full-time staff members and is supported by volunteers.
Budget The society supplies most of the funding. Admission is free.
Sticky moment “While working through the cataloguing backlog, we came across a bottle of ‘radium’ Buxton crystal salts, dating from the early to mid-20th century,” says Betts. “There was a period of panic while we tried to find out whether the preparation actually contained radium, which is a radioactive substance. Fortunately, after contacting specialists and carrying out research we were relieved to discover that it only contained sodium sulphate, so was definitely not radioactive.”
Visitors Betts estimates the museum gets around 2,400 visitors each year and that half of those who visit the RPS headquarters will take at least a passing look at the displays.
Survival tip “As we are a small specialist museum, being part of a larger subject specialist network such as the London Museums of Health and Medicine enables us to share expertise and resources, and collaborate on events,” Betts says. Being part of a larger organisation means it is essential that museum staff communicate with other departments and senior management about the purpose of the venue, he adds.
Future plans The museum recently developed an app to showcase the collections and will “continue to add objects to keep people engaged”. Betts also notes that reopening in a different part of London brings new challenges. “We are going to be focused on marketing the museum to current and potential audiences to increase engagement and visitor numbers.”
What The museum displays six centuries worth of items relating to the history of British pharmacies, showing the weird and worrisome ways pharmacists have attempted to cure ailments and illnesses. “We are the only museum systematically collecting and researching this area,” says John Betts, the keeper of the collection.
Opened Established in 1842 as a teaching resource for students at the School of Pharmacy in Bloomsbury Square, London, the museum opened to the public in the 20th century. It has relocated several times, as the RPS moved headquarters, and reopened at this site last year.
Collection There are 45,000 items in the collection, dating from 1400 to the present day. Themed displays include brand-name medicines stretching back to the 17th century, dispensing equipment that pharmacists of the past would use to prepare medicine and a selection of drug jars, which Betts says give “a fascinating insight into the remedies in use during the 1600s and 1700s”. He adds: “The museum also has a collection of medical prints and caricatures, including examples by George Cruikshank, James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson, which question the knowledge of medical professionals.”
Highlights “The museum has the oldest known English Delftware drug jar, made in London in 1647,” says Betts. The penicillin culture vessels on display were used by researchers at the University of Oxford who developed penicillin for mass production in the 1930s. Betts notes that “visitors are fascinated by the Burges collection”, a grouping of preserved animal products that John Burges created for his 18th-century apothecary. “It includes toads, seahorses, bezoar stones and mummified human remains – the last of which was ground up and used to treat epilepsy,” Betts adds.
Help at hand The museum is run by the RPS. It employs two full-time staff members and is supported by volunteers.
Budget The society supplies most of the funding. Admission is free.
Sticky moment “While working through the cataloguing backlog, we came across a bottle of ‘radium’ Buxton crystal salts, dating from the early to mid-20th century,” says Betts. “There was a period of panic while we tried to find out whether the preparation actually contained radium, which is a radioactive substance. Fortunately, after contacting specialists and carrying out research we were relieved to discover that it only contained sodium sulphate, so was definitely not radioactive.”
Visitors Betts estimates the museum gets around 2,400 visitors each year and that half of those who visit the RPS headquarters will take at least a passing look at the displays.
Survival tip “As we are a small specialist museum, being part of a larger subject specialist network such as the London Museums of Health and Medicine enables us to share expertise and resources, and collaborate on events,” Betts says. Being part of a larger organisation means it is essential that museum staff communicate with other departments and senior management about the purpose of the venue, he adds.
Future plans The museum recently developed an app to showcase the collections and will “continue to add objects to keep people engaged”. Betts also notes that reopening in a different part of London brings new challenges. “We are going to be focused on marketing the museum to current and potential audiences to increase engagement and visitor numbers.”
Rob Picheta is a freelance writer
