‘The Apothecary is founded by Medical Herbalist Ruth Weaver BSc (Hons) is a working herbal health hub and drop in clinic in the heart of Penzance.
Ruth qualified at the University of Lincoln in 2012 and has run her professional practice for 14 years taking clients and offering holistic healthcare in the community and beyond, as well as public speaking and authoring numerous articles for leading herbal publications.
The Apothecary is the first working high-street Apothecary in Penzance for over 85 years. The Apothecary keeps hundreds of herbal extracts in the form of tinctures, oils, hydrosols, capsules, dried herbs and other formulas stacked on bespoke shelves – prizing itself for organic and sustainable sourcing.
Medical Herbalists are qualified to prescribe herbal medicine, which means many herbs not available from health shops can be offered such as the recently banned ‘turkey tail and ‘cordyceps’ mushrooms. Medical Herbalists qualify through a university degree which encompasses a minimum of 500 hours clinical training, pathophysiology and physical examination and biomedical sciences.
The Apothecary offers walk in health advice, with short consultations for minor illness and more comprehensive 1:1 consultations for those with more complex health problems.
Herbalism is one of the most ancient forms of healthcare and most biochemically similar form of medicine to pharmaceuticals. A vast majority of around 50% of modern medicines are from plant derived compounds. Though herbs are more chemically complex as they contain many hundreds of active compounds which are understood to work synergistically though a mechanism called network pharmacology.
The Apothecary opened as a community space for health and wellbeing, as well as a venue for educational and social events. Ruth offers monthly evening herb clubs to learn about the science and energetics of plants through the intuition and senses as well as monthly herbal sauna rituals and a sober social.
The practice is also offering clinical training hours to students on the clinical herbalist programmes in UK, which is drawing interest from those studying far and wide. The potential for growth of herbal medicine has expanded through the opening of the Apothecary with hundreds of people now able to access professional herbal healthcare. The clinic has already seen hundreds of walk ins and many consultation bookings. Ruth is seeking to expand the herbalist workforce to help meet the demand and expand the offering to the community and beyond’