Historical Walking Tour: Exploring Smithfield's Deathly Past in London

Uncover the dark and fascinating history of Smithfield in London on a historical walking tour. Explore execution methods, the Black Death, and the setting of Oliver Twist. Limited tickets available!

Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • The Charterhouse - A fourteenth century monastery and plague pit
  • Smithfield Market - A one thousand year old meat market
  • St John’s Gate - The home of the medieval Knights Hospitallers
  • Cloth Fair - A quiet alley with a noisy history
  • WIlliam Wallace Memorial - The memorial to William Wallace, aka Braveheart
  • **Church of St….
What's Included
  • All entry fees to scheduled landmarks and parks
  • Professional guide fluent in multiple languages
  • Comfortable air-conditioned transportation
  • Complimentary hotel pickup and drop-off
  • Traditional local lunch included
  • Free bottled water throughout the tour
  • Ample time for photos at every stop
  • Limited group size for a personalized experience
    -…
What's Not Included
  • Gratuities
Additional Information

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…

Location
Barbican
Aldersgate Street
We meet outside Barbican Station exit. Please aim to arrive five minutes early as the tour will start on time. If you aren't able to make the tour or you will be late, please message me on +44 7783 401 129 so that I know whether to send you our live location on WhatsApp.
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(225 Ratings)
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Shanec528
Sep 22, 2024
A tour for those looking for something different and interesting - Tom was an excellent tour leader, knowledgeable, informative, with a sense of humour and a great voice that was easily heard amongst London’s noise. We visited some interesting sights and learnt some new things about London’s varied history. Highly recommended if you are looking for something a bit different and interesting off the usual tourist trails.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Davidjilly
Sep 1, 2024
Learned some more of London - Great, interesting content. Enjoyable delivery, easy to understand and nice elocution for the guide. Good jokes dotted around.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
P2037dqheathers
Aug 15, 2024
London tour - Our host was very informative, funny and made a very interesting 2 hours. Learned a lot about the history of the city ! Would recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
175samanthas
Aug 12, 2024
Highly Recommend - Highly Recommend this tour. Tom was extremely knowledgeable, learnt so much and love the Macabre so this tour highly appealed to me. I text Tom before the tour to check on meeting point and he responded straight away. As we moved from locations he was lovely chatting and answering questions. There is so much history and he brought it to life. Thanks Tom for a great tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Anne_b
Aug 9, 2024
Excellent tour, highly recommended! - This was a great walking tour, I really enjoyed it! Tom is an excellent guide, very knowledgeable. We had many interesting stops along the way. The groups are small, that ensures that everyone can actually hear what is being said. I would definitively recommend this tour if you're visiting London and are interested in a different view of the city's history.
Review provided by Viator
Adgiggles
Aug 2, 2024
Totally worth it! - So much fun! Not only was it interesting, it was entertaining too! Getting to see this part of London was a true treat. We arrived late and our tour guide checked in and helped us find the group. It was so kind!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ng996
Aug 1, 2024
Fantastic tour, entertaining and educational!! - This was a great tour! Our tour guide Tom Currie of Historic London Tours was incredible-just so knowledgeable and we learned so many interesting things about the historical aspects of places like the Smithfield market and plague pits of Charterhouse square. Tom's historical descriptions were incredible - you could look at a place and imagine the historical scenes from the 1100's to the Smithfield market in the 19th century, and the scene in WWI and WWII- Highly recommended !!!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Alwilsons
Aug 1, 2024
Fascinating insight into London’s less salubrious past! - We’d thoroughly recommend this. Tom is interesting, articulate, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He leads all the tours himself so the standard will be consistent and high. This tour takes a couple of hours, at a gentle pace and with plenty of stops to enjoy and understand what you’re seeing. And there is so much to see, from Charterhouse Square through the Smithfield’s area, detouring via St Barnabus (who knew that was even there) and two of the oldest houses in the City, finishing at Farringdon. Great afternoon out; we’ll be back for other tours.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Derekk713
Jul 27, 2024
Fabulous tour! - Tom our tour guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. The 2 hours went very quickly and Tom managed to show us m as by places in that timeframe. We can’t wait to book our next tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Explore14318486270
Jul 23, 2024
Fascinating experience - Fascinating tour, full of wonderful facts and figures - it's amazing what's under our feet ! Tom was very good and knows his history.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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November 2024
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