What You Will Do
This tour will cover a number of neighbourhoods, all of different characteristics & historical time periods. Starting in the East End where The Krays famously & violently ruled the roost in the heart of the old East End.
Not too far away you will go back in time almost a century and retread the footsteps of Jack The Ripper & his victims whilst visiting and learning about the feared Workhouses that so many lived in and so many were trapped in. Then towards Smithfields, home of many a famous & bloody execution. Stopping briefly at the beautiful St. Bartholomews church before visiting the shrine of William Wallace (Braveheart) where he was put to death in one of the most horrible ways imaginable.
Then to old Newgate prison where people awaited their trials & deaths for centuries before standing on the spot where many of the executions were enacted. The notorious Clink Prison awaits us... then the maze of alleys around Borough Market & the poverty stricken neighbourhood of Charles Dickens.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Itinerary
1
Whitechapel Bell Foundry
10 minutes
Having visited an important site relating to early Communism, we next stop off here at the famous foundry which made Big Ben and the Liberty Bell and will learn how Big Ben got its name.
2
The Blind Beggar Public House Whitechapel
10 minutes
The scene of perhaps the most infamous London gangland shooting back in the 60's with the feared Krays.... Londons answer to Al Capone!
3
The Ten Bells
5 minutes
The pub most closely linked with Jack The Ripper, possibly at the end of the street at which he lived.
4
The White Hart
10 minutes
This famous pub is one of a few closely associated with Jack The Ripper. After few minutes up the road we will visit the site of a potential Ripper killing.
5
Brick Lane
15 minutes
Now a trendy street and home to a thriving 1-mile stretch of curry restaurants, we will learn what life was like here in Victorian times when Jack was about.
6
Brick Lane Jamme Masjid
5 minutes
Now a beautiful mosque, at the time of Jack The Ripper the building was a synagogue and a century earlier a Protestant church for fleeing French refugees. Learn about the history and heritage of this once poverty stricken part of London
7
Golden Boy of Pye Corner
5 minutes
Why do we have a golden statue of a rather fat young boy in this quiet London Street? It's all to do with The Great Fire of London.
8
Christ Church Spitalfields
10 minutes
This beautiful stone built church was the centre of Victorian life and just across the road from both the bustling market and brewery but also adjacent to perhaps the most dreadful street in London.
9
Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor
5 minutes
Here we can see the first and indeed one of the last Jewish soup kitchens in the East End of London
10
Old Spitalfields Market
5 minutes
Once an industrial market, now a funky market where these is always something to see under the fabulous old Victorian roof.
11
Smithfield Market
10 minutes
Smithfields has long been the centre of the London meat trade. Centuries ago when food production was less ethical, it wasn't just dead animals that were butchered here.
12
WIlliam Wallace Memorial
10 minutes
See the site of where William 'Braveheart' Wallace was Hung Drawn and Quartered as well as quite a few other interesting histories just a few feet away.
13
Peasants' Revolt Plaque
5 minutes
Learn all about the infamous Peasants Revolt and how it helped shape life in modern day Western countries today.
14
Church of St. Bartholomew the Great
5 minutes
Visit this small but fascinating graveyards and learn of the secrets within.
15
St. Paul's Cathedral
5 minutes
From the outside see one of the most beautiful of buildings and learn of how it miraculously avoided destruction in WW2.
16
The Viaduct Tavern
5 minutes
This old pub is notorious for both being right next to the site of centuries of executions but also in the cellars beneath the streets being holding cells where condemned men would spend their last night on earth.
17
Holy Sepulchre London
5 minutes
Learn the often rather gruesome history of this fabulous old church.
18
Old Bailey
5 minutes
Perhaps the oldest court in the Western World. Still the place where the baddest of the bad are put on trial.
19
Christchurch Greyfriars Church Garden
5 minutes
This small garden and ruins is a memorial garden to The Blitz in WW2.
20
London Bridge
5 minutes
The modern incarnation of London Bridge with the large ceremonial spike on which the heads of the executed would be stuck as a warning to those entering the city.
21
The National Firefighters Memorial
5 minutes
This small memorial remembers those who gave their lives protecting London and other cities from the terrible bombings and fires of the WW2 Blitz bombings by the Luftwaffe.
22
Millennium Bridge
5 minutes
20 year old Millennium Bridge doesn't have any gore itself but from here we can see what was once one of the top suicide spots in London and decidedly sexist it was too!
23
Shakespeare's Globe
10 minutes
Now one of the finest places to see a play but in the time of Shakespeare, this area was the absolute pits. Rather like the Amsterdam of its day... for good or for bad!
24
Clink Prison Museum
10 minutes
Not going in the museum itself but the outside is very authentic as it is. We'll learn why this part of London was just so bad.
25
Winchester Palace
5 minutes
Winchester Palace, mostly destroyed in one of the many huge fires of London. Once the home to the Bishop and we'll find out about his terrible ways just a little bit further on.
26
Borough Market
10 minutes
Now entering the heart of Dickensian London and the setting for much of Oliver Twist. There has been a market here pretty much since Roman times.
27
Marshalsea Prison South Wall
10 minutes
We finish the tour at the location of an old debtors prison that had such a terrible impact on Charles Dickens.
28
Crossbones Graveyard & Garden of Remembrance
15 minutes
Crossbones Cemetery if almost unknown even to Londoners, perhaps because of its grisly history. The resting place of criminals, prostitutes, plague victims and suicides for centuries. Learn the fascinating story this tragic but beautiful place.
29
Red Cross Cottages & Garden
5 minutes
Learn the story of one of the first attempts to improve the welfare of the poverty stricken in London.
30
Ye Olde England Tours
3 hours
This tour is run by Ye Olde England Tours
Show 29 more stops