WHEN William Beckett was a barber surgeon, all he could call upon were instruments more suited to a carpenter’s shop than an operating table.

And his spattered apron says it all. Back in the middle ages, surgery was more like butchery; there were no anaesthetics, no bandages. And certainly no blood transfusions.

William – played by Andy Olney – is a character in a week-long festival run by the York Archaeological Trust and the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, which starts tomorrow and tells the gruesome history of medicine through the ages. The event also aims to raise awareness of the need for blood donors.

Sarah Maltby, archaeological trust director of attractions, said: “The festival will bring medicine to life and show just how much things have changed since the Viking age.

“And blood transfusions are a relatively recent medical development; many of us just assume blood will be available to us today if we need it. But without local donors, that’s not necessarily the case.”

The festival begins tomorrow with an encampment in Coppergate Square, with displays of medical skills, tools and techniques from Viking to Tudor times, as well as the Second World War.

On Sunday, the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall will host a day-long Medicine On The Front Line event, where costumed re-enactors from a range of historic periods will show how the sick and soldiers injured in battle were treated. There will then be themed events around the city for the rest of the week.

Victoria Hatcher, of the NHS Blood Service, said: “Ninety-six per cent of the population relies on the other four per cent if they need a blood transfusion and none of us know if or when we may need to receive blood.

“There are certain blood types that are in short supply in this region and that’s why we’re very keen to work with the York Archaeological Trust to raise awareness of the very real need for donors and to encourage people who are eligible to give blood to do so.”