Alexander Fleming Museum

Discover for yourself the secrets of the laboratory in which Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928. An in-situ reconstruction of the laboratory, displays and a video uncover the remarkable story of how a chance discovery became a lifesaving drug destined to revolutionise medicine. The extensive archives of St Mary's Hospital are also open for research. Visit our website for further information.

The Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum also features in our Learning section.

Contact Us

St Mary's Hospital
Praed Street
London
W2 1NY
Tel. 020 3312 6528
Fax. 020 3312 6739

Museum staff can visit schools and colleges by arrangement to give presentations on the history of medicine.

Visitor Information

Opening Hours
Monday-Thursday, 10:00-13:00
Other times by appointment only (Monday-Thursday 14:00-17:00 and Friday 10:00-17:00)
Closed on public holidays

Admission:
Adults: £4.00
Children, students, senior citizens, UB40 holders: £2.00
Staff and students of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College School of Medicine: Free on production of valid identification badge.

Accessibility: No wheelchair access.

Paddington

7, 15, 27, 36

Tell Us About Your Visit

enquiry 6 September 2010

Hi! I work in the Imperial College building at st mary’s, and was wondering whether you do guided tours of the Alexander Museum Laboratory Museum? It seems a shame that I have not been to the museum, even though it is right here! Thanks for your help, Susan

Museum Tours 17 September 2010

Thanks for your enquiry. Yes, we do give guided tours. All visitors get one, often from a volunteer guide, as part of their visit. It is also possible for groups to book guided tours, usually led by the Curator.

Latest News from the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum

The Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum was designated an International Historic Chemical Landmark by the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry in 1999. Visit the American Chemical Society website for more information.

Volunteers wanted

Would you like to be a volunteer museum guide in the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum? Volunteer guides ensure that visitors are given a warm welcome, give short talks on the story of penicillin and serve in the Museum shop. You do not need to have scientific or medical knowledge as full training is given, but you should have an enthusiasm for working with the public and communicating the excitement of a great discovery. For further information please contact Kevin.Brown@imperial.nhs.uk or telephone 020 331 26528.

Newly Published
Poxed and Scurvied: The Story of Sickness and Health at Sea, the latest book by Kevin Brown, Curator of the Museum, has now been published. For more information go to the publisher's website: http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/?product_id=3037

'Medicine Ahoy!' Read an article about health, welfare and medicine in Nelson's Navy by Kevin Brown in the August 2011 issue of the BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine.

Poxed and Scurvied: The Health of the Seaman: Lecture at Shoe Lane Library, 12.30, 18 January 2012
A free public lecture by Kevin Brown, Curator of the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, on the ways in which seamen have overcome the threats to their health from the Middle Ages to modern times. Hear about what it was like to suffer from scurvy, how easy it was for mariners to contract venereal diseases and how primitive was the surgery they received when wounded in battle. Kevin Brown is the author of Poxed and Scurvied: The Story of Sickness and Health at Sea (Seaforth, 2011).

Medicine in the Blitz: Lecture at the National Army Museum, 12.30, 15 March 2012
Kevin Brown, Curator of the Alexander Fleming Laboratory Museum, will talk about the problems faced by Londoners desperate to stay fit and healthy in order to do their bit during the Second World War despite the onslaught of the Blitz, food rationing, clothes shortages, sheltering in the underground, damaged housing, and how out of it emerged the genesis of the National Health Service. Kevin Brown is the author of Fighting Fit: Health, Medicine and War in the Twentieth Century (History Press, 2008).