Medicines of the Past

Discover the weird and wonderful world of old-fashioned cures.

Historic Event

This is a historic event or exhibition. It is no longer available to visit and this page is only retained as a record of its details.

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Old medicines and natural powders

Dates

28 October 2025 (historic event)

About

Discover the weird and wonderful world of old-fashioned cures. From herbs and spices to some truly strange remedies, find out what people once believed could keep illness away.

Children can get hands-on by making their own plague pomander – just like the ones tucked inside plague doctors’ masks – and families can test their knowledge together in our medicine timeline challenge, matching unusual remedies to the right time period.