Funding Heritage

Museum, archives & library

In 1799, the government entrusted to the Royal College of Surgeons of England the collection of 18_^th century surgeon and anatomist John Hunter (1728-1793). Hunter's collection of comparative animal and human specimens formed the basis of an irreplaceable record of social history and scientific endeavour, which grew during the 19^th century to become a significant centre for study, research and teaching. In May 2023, following a five-year development of the RCS England headquarters at Lincoln's Inn Fields in central London, the Hunterian Museum was reopened.

Today the College maintains a remarkable assembly of art, scientific specimens and historical instruments together with the largest library of surgical literature and archives in the UK. In 2013 Arts Council England awarded designated status to the Museum, Archive and Library Collections.

Many of our items require conservation and this work is both specialised and costly. If you would like to support this conservation, please contact fundraising@rcseng.ac.uk.

Preserving History: The Conservation of the Evelyn Tables

Professor Susan Standring MBE, PhD, DSc, FRSB, FKC, Hon FAS, Hon FRCS, formerly Head of the Division of Anatomy and currently Emeritus Professor of Anatomy at King's College London, has a relationship with RCS England that goes back several decades, with posts ranging from Anatomy Development Tutor to Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Hunterian Collection.

Thanks to Susan's generous support, the Hunterian Museum team was able to commission crucial conservation work on the Evelyn Tables during the closure and redevelopment of the Museum. The tables were acquired by the diarist John Evelyn in Padua, Italy, in 1646, and are thought to be the oldest anatomical preparations in Europe.

Conservation work was undertaken by Museum Conservation Services Ltd in 2020. It involved careful and meticulous cleaning of the tables, consolidating and securing human tissue that was lifting away from the pine board mounts, consolidation of the fragile edges of these boards, and the removal of an extensive white 'bloom' or deposit on the surface of the tables using acetone vapour.