Two new galleries coming to Edinburgh's Surgeons' Hall Museums in 2020

One of Scotland's oldest museums is preparing to launch two new galleries in 2020 after entering the second phase of a National Lottery-funded redevelopment process.

Set inside the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, the Surgeons' Hall Museums first opened in 1832 and houses one of the largest and most historic collections of artefacts charting the history and development of surgery.

Financed by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF), the museum completed phase one of a £4.4m (US$5.41m, €4.91m) redevelopment in 2015.

£2.7m (US$3.3m, €3m) was spent on phase one, with new interactive and display exhibits helping visitors to the museum discover the stories and breakthroughs that have shaped modern surgical practice.

Phase two of the development, scheduled to open on 11 September 2020, will see a new exhibit spread over the two new galleries. Called Body Voyager – the exhibition will explore the rise in computerised and robotic technology in medicine. The galleries – split into four zones looking at different parts of the human body – will also include a high level of interactive computer technology, working surgical instruments, human specimens and AV presentations.

"It's clear from our evaluations that there is a deep and unwavering interest in the human body and what happens to it during illness," said Chris Henry, director of Heritage at Surgeons’ Hall Museums, speaking to Edinburgh Live. "We feel that it's now time to look at the future of surgery and try to address changes that have taken place since the opening of the museum in 2015."