SPASM Museum

About

Come and visit us to learn about health care in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The SPASM (Society for Preservation of the Artefacts of Surgery & Medicine) museum is housed in the heritage 1870’s sandstone buildings at the Victoria Road entrance to the old Heritage site of the Tarban Creek Gladesville Asylum – Building 1 was the gatekeeper’s cottage and Building 2 functioned as the male attendants’ cottage.

The Museum has nine display rooms displaying objects from the Collection which includes items no longer used in the practice of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, pathology, general practice, surgery and its specialties, anaesthesia, operating theatres, dentistry and psychiatry. These items donated by individuals and health care organisations number in excess of 8000 objects, documents and books.

SPASM, established 1979, consists entirely of members and volunteers with an interest in the history of and the preservation of moveable heritage from both the hospital and non-hospital sectors of nursing and medicine.