Medical collectables under the hammer

More than 250 antiques and collectables are on sale

A slice of medical history is up for grabs at an auction in Gloucestershire.

More than 200 surgical and medicinal items are going under the hammer at the Wotton Auction Rooms in Wotton-under-Edge.

Many of the gruesome yet highly collectable lots in the one-off sale date back to the Georgian and Victorian periods.

They include a post-mortem kit, spinal tapping set, leech jars and an 18th century bone saw.

Terrifying lots

Auctioneer Philip Taubenheim admits he isn't expecting the collection to appeal to the general public.

He said: "It is quite a specialised market which is not really going to attract the man in the street.

"To be honest I think most people would be terrified by the sort of things we have on sale - amputation kits, enema machines, and so on.

"But there are a lot of dedicated collectors in the medical profession - surgeons and dentists - and there has been a lot of interest."

Around 150 of the lots at the auction came from the collection of one man who spent 10 years amassing them before deciding to sell up.

The sale also includes a selection of old veterinary equipment.