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Burnings, Butchery & Black Death: A Walking Tour of London's Bloody Past

★★★★★
5.0 (289 reviews)
⏱ 2 hours
From $27
USD per person (£20)
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⏱ Duration: 2 hours
✓ Shared tour
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About This Tour

Travel through a thousand years of history, meeting medieval knights, body snatchers, Charles Dickens, an eighteenth century ghost, and William Wallace - aka Braveheart (and learn how he was in no fit state to shout "Freeeedoooommmm!" whilst being executed!)

On our walking tour we'll visit the areas around Smithfield, for centuries London's site of both animal and human slaughter. We'll learn about how the city disposed of the tens of thousands of Black Death corpses in the fourteenth century, the execution methods used in the Middle Ages, and how the area became a notorious slum which Dickens used as the setting for Oliver Twist.

The walking tour begins outside Barbican Station, ends near to Farringdon Station, and will take around two hours. Total distance is about two miles.

Ticket sales will be limited to fifteen attendees, to ensure maximum enjoyment for everybody on the tour.

What's Included

✓ Included

  • Tour

✗ Not Included

Itinerary

1
Stop
A fourteenth century monastery and plague pit
2
Stop
A one thousand year old meat market
3
Stop
The home of the medieval Knights Hospitallers
4
Stop
A quiet alley with a noisy history
5
Stop
The memorial to William Wallace, aka Braveheart
6
Stop
London's oldest surviving parish church
7
Stop
The site where the Great Fire of 1666 died out, and of eighteenth century ghost hysteria
8
Stop
The site of the River Fleet, Victorian London's largest open air sewer
9
Stop
A hidden gem of a pub, hidden down an alleyway
10
Stop
The oldest surviving hospital in the country

Good to Know

  • 🐕 Service animals allowed
  • 🚌 Public transportation options are available nearby
  • 💪 Suitable for all physical fitness levels
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