Soho's Contribution to Health Care History Walking Audio Tour

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• Soho Square (Pass by)

  We will walk round this small green oasis and see where Mary Seacole lived on her return from the Crimean war, the site of the first dispensary for children, the first hospital for women, the first home of the Royal Ear Hospital and the site of the original homes of the Dental Hospital of London and National Heart Hospital.

  Admission ticket free
• Leicester Square (Pass by)

  Sadly, little remains of the square's 18th century connections with health care which included displays of medicinal mud bathing aided by 'a bevy of belles' and the home of John Hunter, the founder of modern surgery. However, we can still see the old Royal Dental Hospital, now the Hampshire Hotel.

  Admission ticket free
• (Pass by)

  Dean Street has hardly changed shape in 300 years, but its facades hide a startling medical history. Walk past number 33, home to Dr Joseph Rogers, the workhouse physician The Lancet dubbed the "Hercules of workhouse reform" for forcing better care into London's Poor Law infirmaries. Further along stood the London Lock Hospital, Britain's pioneering (and stigmatised) clinic for venereal disease, its 1912 facade still standing. Along the way, spot Karl Marx's old home and Soho's oldest pub.

  Admission ticket free
• Royal College of Physicians (Pass by)

  Can you see the neo-classical building on the corner with six massive columns? This was designed by Robert Smirke for the Royal College of Physicians in 1827, although now it's part of the Canadian embassy. It may be grand but even at the time it was described as "severe almost to the point of dullness". Initially the physicians' college was based in Moorfields near the city of London where the emerging merchants and financiers, who could afford physicians' costs, lived. As the wealthy migrated west, so did the College, to this custom built home. In 1875 statues of three great physicians – Linacre, Harvey and Sydenham – were added in the three niches behind the columns but they left with the college in 1963. Their current home is in Regent's Park, where you can visit a museum and medicinal garden.

  Admission ticket free
• Pall Mall, London (Pass by)

  Pall Mall takes its odd name from "paille-maille," a croquet-like game once played along this stretch. Laid out in the 1660s under the Earl of St Albans, it became the heart of gentlemen's clubland: the Athenaeum, the Reform Club and the Travellers Club still line its length, alongside the Royal Automobile Club. In 1820 it was one of the first streets in the world lit by gas. At its eastern end, Waterloo Place holds the Guards Crimean War Memorial, with its statue of Florence Nightingale.

  Admission ticket free
• Crimean War Memorial (Pass by)

  Our walk ends here in St James', the heart of establishment London and world away from Bohemian Soho. This war memorial is unusual for not only honouring soldiers but also a remarkable nurse - Florence Nightingale - whose influence is still felt today internationally.

  Admission ticket free
• Canada House (Pass by)

  Hear how, in the 1820s, Robert Smirke designed the northern half of this building for the Royal College of Physicians and southern half for the Union Club, a gentlemen's club. After both left, it became the Canadian High Commission.

  Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels

Tags