84
People
Number of people in A&E department
8:09
Hours
Average wait to be seen by a clinician
2:17
Hours
Average time in the department
Royal Berkshire Hospital Medical Museum
Our collection shows the remarkable progress made over the centuries in medicine, surgery, nursing, midwifery, dentistry and other aspects of healthcare. Many important developments have taken place in Reading.
The museum is open on the first and third Sundays of each month, from 2.00 to 4.30pm. Our volunteers will be delighted to show you round and answer any questions you may like ask.
We are pleased to welcome groups, for example from schools, youth organisations, local societies and support groups at other times by arrangement in advance. We can also provide talks about a range of local and other aspects of healthcare history. Admission to the museum is free, but donations are always welcome.
About the Museum
The museum was founded in 1997. Our displays include the history of the Royal Berks Hospital, the original part of which was opened in 1839, as well as many other aspects of medical history.
The museum has appeared in a number of television programmes, including ‘Tony Robinson’s History of Britain’.
We have formal links with Reading Museum and the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) of Reading University, and we are accredited to the Arts Council England.
Contact Us
General enquiries
Sherkiela Corbin-Browne (administrative coordinator)
Level 4, Main Entrance,
Royal Berkshire Hospital,
Reading.
Berkshire
RG1 5AN.
email: sherkiela.corbin-browne@royalberkshire.nhs.uk
telephone: 0118 322 8478
To arrange a group visit, or a talk for your organisation
Betty Messer
telephone: 0118 954 9371.
If you are interested in joining us as a volunteer
Richard Havelock (Museum Chairman)
email: richard.havelock@btinternet.com
Visiting the Museum
If you are driving, the easiest approach is from London Road. Turn left into the old main hospital car park (in front of the portico of the North Block). There is usually plenty of parking on Sundays (pay and display).
As you approach the portico and old main entrance from London Road, turn left along the path behind the hoarding round the current building work, and head for white double doors (down a few steps) in the far left hand end of the main building. These lead into the basement corridor – the entrance to the museum (red double doors) is ahead, slightly to the left.
Go into the original main entrance (up the steps and under the columned portico). Turn left from the hall, follow the corridor down the first slope and then the second slope and through the door at the bottom, and then left for a short way, and left again into a long passageway. The museum (behind double red doors) is on the right hand side near the far end.
When you come to the North Block end of the corridor, turn right down the slope and then the second slope and through the door at the bottom, and then left for a short way, and left again into a long passageway. The museum (behind double red doors) is on the right hand side near the far end.
Walk towards the back of the North Block with the Trust Education Centre on your right. Ahead is a slope leading down into the basement corridor. A little further on, this turns to the left, and the entrance to the museum is the first pair of double doors on the left.