Explore the heart of the city of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, and Pudding Lane where a small fire in a bakery led to what became known as "the Great Fire of London" in September 1666. It was one of the capital's most historically significant and devastating events, leaving destruction and despair in its wake. The fire led to the modernisation of housing and infrastructure in London, forcing huge attitude changes toward the safety and poverty of the people.
On your private half-day walking tour, you will:
In the early hours of September 2nd, 1666, a small fire broke out at a bakery on Pudding Lane. The conditions were optimal for disaster – the timber and thatch houses were situated in extremely close proximity to one other, one witness reported that you could wake up in the morning, open the window and shake hands with your neighbour.
The city had also been plagued by drought for about 6 months, meaning that the timber was particularly dry. The fire escalated rapidly, burning down around 13,000 homes and 87 churches over four days and severely damaging St Paul’s Cathedral. What happened and how did the fire wreak so much havoc?
On this private walking tour, you will learn about how the fire began and how it spread. Debate some of the key issues surrounding the topic with your expert guide. If not for Baker Thomas Farriner’s carelessness with a few dying embers, would London have remained a medieval city? Or was this a tragedy waiting to happen?
Did the fire paradoxically cause more good than bad, or do we underestimate the scale of the fire’s damage? What about the people who lost their homes, livelihoods, and even their lives? Hear some historic eyewitness accounts.
You and your guide will trace the key sites of the Great Fire with a walk around the City of London: from Pudding Lane, Monument, and old local churches to alleyways and pre-1666 taverns. See how the area has been transformed, and what remains of it and explore some archival materials to build up an accurate picture of London at the time, and the events that would reshape the city forever.
End with a fascinating hour-long guided tour of the majestic St Paul's Cathedral - rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren and Hawksmoor after the Great Fire largely destroyed it. Inspired by Michelangelo's Dome for St Peter's Basilica in Rome, it was for many years the tallest building in London.
It has been the backdrop to numerous royal occasions including the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Admire its magnificent architecture, and hear about the process of rebuilding.
Delve into the macabre history of Jack the Ripper and the underbelly of London’s notorious East End on this unique driving and walking tour with a professional guide and passionate ‘Ripperologist’!
On your private tour, you will:
The urban legend of Jack the Ripper - his barbaric crimes and the mystery of his identity have exercised a morbid fascination over the police and public alike, ever since his horrific crimes were discovered in 1888. On this unique tour, you will be able to listen to one of the foremost experts in Ripperology who is also a licensed London Cabbie, as he takes you around the locations associated with the Ripper and his victims— all young women working in London's East End.
After meeting your driver-guide, you’ll begin your tour in Whitechapel, the infamous district of East London that made headlines in the year 1888 with the brutal murders of five working girls by an unknown assassin, known for over a century as Jack the Ripper.
You’ll visit the notorious pubs, like the Ten Bells, where the women were last seen and walk down the very streets where their bodies were first seen and caused such widespread shock, fear and horror.
You’ll see Buck’s Row, where Mary Ann Nichols was discovered; Hanbury Street, the site of Annie Chapman’s body; Berners Row where Elizabeth Stride was found; Mitre Square scene of Catherine Eddowe’s murder, and Miller’s Court where Mary Jane Kelly was brutally attacked.
Your guide will tell you their tragic stories and the clues found by the police, the police arrests and the many hundreds of theories put forward over the intervening years. The tour also covers many other notorious areas of the East End and sites of historic crimes and punishments from the traitors of the Middle Ages at the Tower of London to the more recent gangland criminals, the legendary Kray Twins.
You’ll visit the underbelly of the East End: The Blind Beggar Public House, the scene of a notorious gangland murder; The Highway – famous for the Ratcliffe Highway murderer, and Wapping’s Execution Dock!
You’ll also pass by some iconic London landmarks and monuments – including the Whitehall Bell Foundry at Spitalfields where Big Ben was made, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, St Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge and The Royal Hospital – former residence of the unfortunate ‘Elephant Man’ - made famous in the Hollywood blockbuster and Oscar-winning movie, which starred John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins.
And finally, you’ll head toward central London and Fleet Street, known for the infamous Demon Barber of Fleet Street Sweeney Todd, the Knights Templar, and now for West End pubs and theatres! Your fascinating tour of the lesser-known underbelly of London ends here or at a location of your choice.
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