Bodysnatchers of Southwark Walking Tour

Explore 19th-century Southwark where surgeons trained and body snatchers prowled.

Led by the Old Operating Theatre, this 90-minute walk traces the story of 19th-century body snatchers who supplied London’s anatomy schools with the human remains surgeons demanded for training.

Follow in the footsteps of Sir Astley Cooper, one of the era’s most influential surgeons and the notorious Borough Gang, who became infamous for their role in the resurrection trade. Along the way you will uncover the practice described as the “necessary inhumanity” of early surgical education, the loopholes that allowed the trade to flourish and the public fear that ultimately led to the Anatomy Act of 1832.

📍Meeting Point: Guy's Courtyard, next to the statue of Thomas Guy.