The London Group visited the Royal College of Physicians on Friday 29 September and discovered 500 years of history, medicine, art and architecture.
The RCP is the oldest medical college in England, founded by royal charter of Henry VIII in 1518.
The current home of the RCP is a masterpiece of modernist architecture on the edge of Regents Park, with a large airy entrance hall with side rooms holding collections of medical instruments used over the centuries, silverware and the formal robes of the President of the college.
The guided tour of the garden of medicinal plants was particularly fascinating. We were treated to the dry humour and enormous knowledge of a 'garden fellow' who is also a senior physician at a London hospital. From the hundreds of plants in the garden he delighted us with stories of medicinal use, and misuse!
