Small medical and zoology museums in London

I recently visited 3 small museums in London that have a medical or zoological theme. And they are all free!

The first was the Grant Museum of Zoology.

It is the last university zoological musem in London, connected to UCL. It is housed in the Rockerfeller Buildings in University Street, near Gower Street. Across the road is the Cruciform Building, a grade II listed building -

The Grant Museum is small, but packed with some of the oldest natural history collections in the UK, ranging from microscopic slides through to huge skeletons. Rhino skeleton and African elephant skull -

"The Grant Museum has around 68,000 zoological specimens. Notable specimens include the world’s rarest skeleton, the quagga; thylacine specimens; dodo bones and fine collection of models including the Blaschka glass models, Ziegler wax models, and Vernon Edwards extinct fish models."

A collection of bats -

Orang utan and chimpanzee -

Birds -

And a dugong from SE Asia

See more on the Grant Museum website.

From the Grant Museum it is just a short walk to the Welcome Collection on Euston Road. I actually went there because I thought it was the museum my father had taken me to when I was a teenager. That museum was full of human anatomy specimens, especially those affected by disease. But I found the Wellcome Collection was not the same. The latter explores the connection between medicine, life and art. The one I had visited decades ago was the Wellcome Museum of Anatomy and Pathology and is now closed until 2021.

There is one permanent exhibition "Medicine Man" which is display of items collected by Sir Henry Wellcome, relating to health and medicine. It shows how people have viewed the basics of life over the centuries – birth, health, sex and death.
"Explore a wide range of objects that includes a set of Japanese sex aids from the 1930s, a unique collection of votive offerings and some diagnostic dolls used by women in 18th century China to show male doctors where they were feeling pain. We also have a metal executioner’s mask from Portugal.

There are also some direct connections to major historical figures. The exhibition features Napoleon’s toothbrush, Nelson’s razor, Charles Darwin’s walking stick, Florence Nightingale’s moccasins and even some of King George III’s hair."

Another permanent exhibition is "Being Human" . This "explores what it means to be human in the 21st century. It reflects our hopes and fears about new forms of medical knowledge, and our changing relationships with ourselves, each other and the world.

Featuring 50 artworks and objects, the gallery is divided into four sections: Genetics, Minds & Bodies, Infection, and Environmental Breakdown. Discover a refugee astronaut carrying their belongings to an unknown destination, sniff a perfumed bronze sculpture that smells of breast milk, listen to an epidemic jukebox, and watch a fast-food outlet slowly flood."

There are also temporary exhibitions. The entrance hall -

See more on the Wellcome Collection.

My 3rd museum visit was to the Royal College of Physicians. They are open during the day and also have a late evening once a month. It is located near Regents Park.

The RCP has a 500-year-old collection of artefacts and artwork. There are displays of medical equipment used over the years, apothecary jars, books and diagrams etc. And large paintings of medical people throughout the centuries.

See more on RCP London and also the London Museums of Health and Medicine.