Lancaster Health & Medical Museum Collection

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Lancaster Health & Medical Museum Collection

Lancaster's rich medical history includes, amongst others, Roman surgery, St.

Leonard’s leprosy hospital, two famous anatomists, epidemics, jail fever, one of the ‘Black Assizes’, and the second oldest surviving Medical Book Club in the UK

16/10/2026

One of Lancaster's most famous sons Sir Richard Owen was educated at Lancaster Grammar School and apprenticed in 1820 to a group of Lancaster surgeons. He is most famous in 1842 for recognising dinosaurs and classified them in a group he called Dinosauria. There are four articles about him on our web page https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=363

06/10/2026

The article published in Dental Practice in June 1991 is probably the most comprehensive and detailed about the Buck Ruxton 'Jigsaw Murders case. It is one of the most famous cases in forensic medical history because of the careful and meticulous reconstruction of the bodies and because it was the first time the use of superimposition photography was demonstrated in court https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?p=1323

02/10/2026

Eric Cooper - the Colditz Dentist - was a local dentist who lived in Nether Kellett. What many did not know was that he served in World War 2 and was imprisoned in the notorious POW camp. He would insert maps made from rice paper in temporary tooth fillings for escapees, and fashioned the spars (parts of the wings) for the famous escape glider out of wooden floorboards https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?p=1309

30/09/2026

October 'Object of The Month' is the framed Statement of Fees from 1812 - the charges to be made by Lancaster's Medical Practitioners and Apothecaries for treatment, medication and 'home visits' - remember them? Home visits within one mile were charged at 2/6d (two shillings and sixpence or half a crown) or 12½p today https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=783

27/09/2026

At the outbreak of World War One there was a huge demand for experienced doctors in the Royal Army Medical Corps, but Dr Frank Bingham - local Lancaster GP and Caton cricket star - did not choose this option. Instead he selected to stay with his regiment, the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster), and take his place in the battlefield with his men where he sacrificed his life https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?p=1291

01/09/2026

Metal Clysters are our objects for September and Ian Dewar takes us on a fascinating armchair archaeological journey - right back to the Roman era - delving into the dual purposes of these syringes through the ages, looking at the benefits of their use and what they were used for https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=781

01/08/2026

August Object of the Month is Issue No. 4 of Concord the group news sheet from Christmas 1972 produced by North Lancashire and South Westmorland Hospital Management Committee.

First issued in March 1972, it was an exercise in internal communications to allay mounting anxieties about the future of the National Health Service (NHS) on the cusp of its first major reorganisation since its creation in 1948.

Anxieties were many. 1972 saw the publication of the Briggs Report into nursing. This reshaped its professional identity away from nursing as a vocation towards research, education and training. Briggs arrived at the same time as a progress report on the 1966 Salmon Report which had standardised nursing pay, hierarchy and graded responsibilities.

https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=779

01/07/2026

This image is of a humble book of matches from a hundred years ago, but the stories behind it are powerful. From the urgent need to extend the RLI due to the increasing population of Lancaster, to the devasting medical conditions that the chemicals used in their manufacture caused, and the fascinating history of matchbooks. Our smallest item so far but a really interesting article. https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=777

01/06/2026

Between 1964 and 1968 the brand new Lancaster University proposed establishing a Medical School. It was an attempt which failed but these fascinating documents uncovered by Dr Michael Lambert formed part of the narrative, and provide ways of understanding the complex relationships within the NHS between policy, place, medical and higher education https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=775

02/05/2026

Our May Object of the month is The Swinging Thermometer Case. Because of the hazards of mercury, which includes both brain and kidney damage, the mercury clinical thermometer has not been in use in the UK for over 25 years. After a reading the mercury was returned to the bottom of the thermometer by vigorous shaking with a risk that the thermometer might be dropped. A much easier and safer way to do this was to use the ‘Swinging Thermometer Case’ - https://lancasterhealthmedicalmuseum.org.uk/?page_id=804

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