Dark but cosy atmosphere, 80’s nostalgia, and black charcoal pizzas served with balsamic pentagram. This is Lost Boys Pizza, the world’s only vampire-themed pizzeria that is located in Camden.
Inspired by the cult classic from 1987: The Lost Boys, the pizzeria looks very similar to the Frog Brother Comic Book Store in the horror movie.
The ceiling is clustered by black and white comic book pages, while the walls provide the perfect Insta backdrop with old comics and posters and a huge spooky mural.
The chandeliers made from skulls and bones and a huge red and white candle adds the finishing touch to the vampiric atmosphere.
Love at First Bite
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The creative menu offers black charcoal pizzas, and there are gluten-free and vegan options too. Apart from the classic add-ons, you can ask a balsamic pentagram to be drawn on your pizza to maximise your experience.
We sank our teeth into ‘The Jack Skellington’ from the menu which came with butternut puree base, mozzarella, goats cheese, shallots, sundried tomato, red onion and balsamic pentagram.
It was light and crispy, yet filling, and looked really cool with its black dough and the pentagram.
Cocktails to Die For
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The cocktail menu is just as creative as the pizza menu. Apart from the old classics, such as Negroni and Espresso Martini, they offer artistic and olds fashioned blends, like ‘Wild Kids Old Fashioned’ that includes Four Roses Bourbon, cherry cola reduction and bitters; or ‘Ryders on the Storm’ which is a refreshing blend of Four Roses, Ginger beer, lime, and bitters.
Black Wednesday
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Every Wednesday is ‘Black Wednesday’ at Lost Boys Pizza.
Make sure you follow them on Instagram and check what’s the mystic incantation for that Wednesday. Whisper that to your server before ordering to unlock 2-4-1 pizza offer and Happy Hour drinks prices all night long.
Ready for your next adventure? Grab same fresh garlic and fill your bottle with holly water because we’re going for a vampire hunt in Highgate Cemetery!
Pick up your stakes, grab your garlic garland, and fill in your holy water bottle because we’re going for a vampire hunt in Highgate Cemetery.
The Story Begins
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In the 1960s interest in vampires was high thanks to movies and TV shows dealing with horror stories about supernatural creatures sucking human blood.
As a result, when Evening Standard published a report about vandalism in Tottenham Park Cemetery, many Londoners quickly jumped into the conclusion that the culprit must had had a vampire.
According to the article, unknown persons entered the cemetery and dug out a newly buried body to drove a sharpened iron bar through the lid straight into the corps’ heart. The report also said that flowers were arranged around other graves in bizarre formation.
14 months after this incident a series of newspaper articles and two vampire hunters started a hysteria around vampires.
Hampstead and Highgate Express published a letter written by a local enthusiast of the paranormal, David Farrant, claiming that he had seen a mysterious tall dark man standing in Highgate Cemetery on Christmas Eve 1969. Farrant claimed he had spoken to two people who had had similar experiences.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Farrant decided to investigate this by spending a whole night in the cemetery. He later said, he had thought the mysterious figure might have just been an animal, but around midnight he glimpsed a tall dark figure with red eyes floating above the ground. Farrant reported he had felt like losing control of his body and mind and the air suddenly turned icy. To escape from the terrifying situation, he had repeated some Kabbalistic incantation. Shortly after the phantom disappeared.
In February 1970 Farrant asked the local newspaper readers in another article if they had similar encounters.
A number of people responded; however, they gave slightly different descriptions of the mysterious entity. One had seen a tall man wearing a hat, another person depicted a lady dressed in white, while someone else claimed they had witnessed a ghostly cyclist.
Meanwhile, another man with interest in the supernatural published his ideas in Ham and High newspaper. In the article entitled “Does a Wampyr Walk in Highgate?” Sean Manchester shared his theory about the paranormal events.
According to Manchester ‘a King of Vampire of the undead’ was buried in Highgate Cemetery. That vampire was originally a Romanian aristocrat who was a black magic practitioner and had been transported to England by his followers in a coffin in the 18th century. His followers had even purchased a house for him in the elegant West End area.
According to Manchester, Satanists recently carried out rituals to reawaken the evil, that’s why the vampire appeared again. Manchester claimed he had spoken to local people who had experienced vampire activity, such as anaemia, nightmares about the evil, and there were people with two small round shaped wounds on the neck.
The Vampire Hunt
Photo: Urban Adventurer
On the evening of Friday 13th March 1970, the two vampire hunters, Farrant and Manchester went to Highgate Cemetery to search for and kill the vampire. ITV aired a program on that day that included a live report from the cemetery.
Within two hours, a mass of people started gathering around the cemetery, and many of them climbed over the walls to help the vampire hunters find and kill the evil. There were so many people that the police were unable to stop them.
It is said that Manchester and his companions penetrated into a catacomb and found a sinister-looking black coffin that didn’t seem to fit to the others laying down there. Manchester performed an exorcism using garlic and holy water and sprinkled salt around the coffin. A few months later remains of a woman were found in the catacomb showing signs of black magic ritual.
Later Manchester found similar black coffins in the cemetery and did the same rituals.
Meanwhile Farrant attempted to communicate with the Highgate Vampire using two circles, candles, incense and a medium. His first attempt was interrupted by the police, but the second attempt was successful. An entity appeared and grabbed him by the throat. Farrand had to break the circle to escape.
After that Farrant came up with a new theory. He claimed the entity was malignant and was not a vampire at all, but an evil presence.
Highgate Cemetery Purged
Photo: Urban Adventurer
In 1974 Manchester and his team went back to the cemetery to find another black coffin. They removed the lid and found and evil creature with fierce eyes and drawn-back lips. Manchester drove a stake into the “vampire’s” heart and then he and his followers burnt the coffin with the body. After this Manchester claimed, “Highgate Cemetery is purged.”
Even Discovery Channelcreated a report around the Highgate vampire and story of the vampire hunters.
The Highgate Vampire Returned?
In 1991 Declan Walsh claimed he had witnessed a tall very thin man dressed in Victorian style as walking through a locked gate.
Another witness took a glimpse of a figure floating from the east site to the west site of the cemetery in 2005.
Many popular horror stories were inspired by the Highgate vampire and even filmed within the cemetery, such as “Tales from the Crypt”, “Taste the Blood of Dracula” and “Dracula A.D. 1972” starring Christopher Lee. The latter was directly inspired by David Farrant’s vampire hunting activity.
The Highgate vampire appears as a villain in television series, such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (season 9) and in comics, such as the “Dark Horse”.
Do you believe in vampires?
Ready for your next adventure? Why not book a spine-chilling experience in one of the oldest prisons in England, The Clink Prison Museumthis October?
After collecting the best shops for Halloween, it’s time to explore London’s weirdest, spookiest yet most wondrous museums to visit in London during the spooky season.
Located in the attic of an early 18th-centurey church of the old St Thomas’ Hospital, The Old Operating Theatre & Herb Garret is Europe’s oldest surgical theatre.
The museum takes you back to the Victorian era and showcases the equipment, tools and guide you through the most common surgical procedures have been taken place 200 years ago.
In the 18th century more than 150 medical students gathered in this original space to learn about surgery.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The museum regularly hosts online and offline events. They also offer spine-shivering quirky treats, human preserves and edibles. Why not treat yourself with some Sugar Dusted Bogies, Cubed Earwax or 0+ / AB- Blood Drops after your museum experience?
NOTE: The entrance is via a 52-step narrow spiral staircase.
Opening Times
Fridays and Saturdays only, 10:30am – 5pm (last admission is 4:15pm)
The notorious serial killer, Jack the Ripper committed a series of murders in London during 1888. Despite of the hundreds of theories, movies and books trying to solve the mystery, The Ripper’s identity remained unsolved.
Jack the Ripper Museumis situated in the heart of Whitechapel, not far from the very spot where the Ripper’s third victim, Elizabeth Stride’s, body was found.
By exploring the museum, you will discover everything to know about the Ripper’s victims, the main suspects of the murders, the police investigation, and the details of each murder, including names, ages, locations, newspaper reports, and even illustrations of the crimes.
The museum offers guided tours to visit the crime scenes, museum-only tickets, and hybrid tickets.
Opening Times
7 days a week from 10am. Last entry 5:30pm
Tickets
Start from £10 for adults and £8 for children.
The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & UnNatural History
As its name suggests, The Museum of Curiositiesshowcases weird and wonderful artifacts and treasures collected from different corners the world. Creatures with extra head and limbs, African masks, conserved head in a jar, creepy dolls, occult cabinets, and other oddities to be seen. This museum is not for the faint-hearted.
The museum has an award winning Absinthe Parlour & Cocktail Bar where you have the opportunity to explore and taste the most extraordinary elixirs from the furthest corners of the world.
Opening Times
Thursday – Saturday 3pm – 11pm
Sunday 2pm – 11pm
Tickets
Adult: £10
Concessions: £6
Special offer: £5 / £2.50 Concession admission on Thursdays for walk-in customers
Locals living in a walking distance with proof of address can buy a ticket for £6 on the door
Dating back to 1144, The Clink Prison Museum is one of the oldest and most notorious prisons in England.
Ring the bell for jailer and step inside through the original entrance of the prison. The museum will guide through the cells where prisoners were living, explore different torture methods witches, pirates and other criminals were being hit by and you can even open a mysterious coffin and discover what’s inside at the end of the tour – if you dare.
Don’t forget to have your own free imprisoned photo taken before you leave.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The Clink Prison Museum is undoubtedly one of the most hunted places in London. If you feel the brave in your heart, you can book a Ghost Hunt Experience to attempt to make connection with the spirits still living within the prison’s walls using Ouija Boards, Glass Divination and other methods.
Other guided tours, including fun educational tours are also available.
Opening Times
7 days a week, 10am – 6pm
Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
Tickets
NOTE: The museum and the tours are suitable for children aged from 7
Pollock’s Toy Museum is the oldest toy museum in the UK. The museum has two buildings and 6 different atmospheric rooms to display their extensive collection of dolls, puppets, Teddy Bears, dolls houses, optical toys, and toy theatres of the past.
The museum hosts regular events and workshops. They have plenty of events and activities for all ages this October, such as Magic Lantern Workshop, Incy Wincy Spider Trail or Magic Lantern Storytelling Tours, just to name a few. Ticket prices for events are vary.
Opening Times
Monday – Saturday 10am – 5pm
Sunday CLOSED
Tickets
Adult: £9
3-15 Child: £8
Under 3: Free
Ready for your next adventure? Explore the Devil’s Tavern and the execution dock and other notorious execution sitesin London.
Calling all witches, vampires, ghosts, werewolves, zombies and fallen angels! Last year’s Halloween was not as it should be, so this year we all want it really fang-tactic, right? Here are some of the best shops in London to reach your ghouls this Halloween.
Zombie Fresh Mints, Werewolf Biscuit, Tinned Fear and Fairy Dust made from real fairies. Just name it and they serve it.
You can even buy your own Death Certificate here. Just specify the cause of death, such as bite to the neck, ancient curse or vexation, brains eaten by zombie….
Please note: you cannot have a Death Certificate if you’re merely undead!
FUN TIP: Their website has been automatically translated for humans. If you are a monster, please, click on the small menu on the top of the page, choose your monster type and watch the website being translated to your monster language.
The Catty, Batty, Deadly, Ghostly and Scary!
Mix Max
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Mix Max is specialised on fancy dress and accessories. Fake blood, makeup, scary masks, wigs, and decorations. They have everything for Halloween chills and thrills.
Hubble, bubble toil and trouble! Biscuiteers is definitely a choice when it comes to hand-iced biscuits for even the spookiest day of the year.
Give them a fright with spooky haunted house, bats, eyeballs, and black cat biscuits. Available online or visit their shop if you dare on Kensington Park Road or Northcote Road, alternatively visit Selfridges Food Hall and put your paw on their spooky collections.
Cutie and Spooky
Art Box
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Cuteness overloaded. If you love Halloween but want to keep it cute, Art Boxkawaii characters are for you.
Say hello to the Halloween-style Hello Kitty and the vampire Kuromi on your arrival to the shop. Don’t forget to take a pic of them and share it on Instagram for your chance to win a £30 voucher to spend in store. Don’t forget to follow them, tag them and use hashtag #spookyartboxuk. Good luck!
Too Cute to Spook!
Disney Store
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Disney Store hosts a not-so -spooky Halloween with friendly monsters. From customisable soft toys to costumes to Halloween decoration, you’ll find everything to organise a not-so-scary Halloween party for the little ones.
Visit their physical shop on Oxford Street to get the true Disney Halloween spirit.
The Boo-tiful and Woo-nderful!
Hamley’s
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Join the Halloween spook-fest at Hamley’s during this October. Dress up in your favourite costume and meet London’s friendliest witches, wizards, and vampires.
Ready for your next adventure? Discover the real Pet Cemetery in Hyde Park this October.
We all know Stephen King’s famous novel, ‘Pet Sematary’. Many of us spent nights reading the book full of dreadful mysteries about a cemetery dedicated to pets; and the soil bearing spiritual power to let the dead come back to life again.
Well, the pet cemetery does exist and it’s in Hyde Park.
Older Than You Think
The Pet Cemetery is at Victoria Lodge rare garden.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Hyde Park secret Pet Cemetery was not opened by plan.
Let’s go back in time in 1881, when this little graveyard’s story started with Cherry, a Maltese terrier.
Cherry loved spending time in Hyde Park with their owners Mr and Mrs J. Lewis Barned. As they visited Hyde Park quite often, the husband and wife made a friendship with the park’s gatekeeper Mr Winbridge.
When Cherry passed away at an old age, their owner approached Mr Winbridge and asked if there was any chance to bury their beloved dog within the park, in Victoria Lodge’s back garden, as that had Cherry’s favourite place been.
They got the permission and Cherry’s tombstone is still there with its inscription, ‘Poor Cherry. Died April 28. 1881’
The Prince’s Dog
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The next pet to be buried here was Duke of Cambridge’s beloved dog, a Yorkshire terrier, named Prince. Prince had met his end under the wheel of a carriage in an unfortunate accident.
Soon, Hyde Park became wealthy Londoners’ beloved companions’ final resting place.
More Than a Thousand Graves
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The Pet Cemetery closed in 1903 as it was getting too cramped.
By the time the cemetery closed, 300 little souls had been laid to rest in the tiny back garden. The Victorian cemetery was the first public pet cemetery in Britain, and over 1,000 pets buried there.
Dogs are the Most Common Animals
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Mostly dogs are buried in the Pet Cemetery – many of them had a fatal encounter with carriages – but there are plenty of cats and birds and even a monkey.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The headstones bear simple inscriptions addressed to faithful companions:
“In loving memory of my darling little Cirrie, Died March 14 1893”
“To the beloved memory of Orphie, Most faithful devoted friend who left us sorrowing, Died Aug 22 1897”
“In memory of my dearest little Susan”
There is even a victim of a murder, Balu.
“Balu, Son of Fritz, Poisoned by a cruel Swiss, 1899”
Photo: Urban Adventurer
How to Visit
The cemetery is not open to the public but at rare occasions The Royal Parks organise walking tours that include special viewing to the Pet Cemetery.
If you missed the special viewing, you can still contact with Hyde Park and arrange a one-hour private viewing.
Peek through the railings by Victoria Gate to catch a glimpse of the real Pet Cemetery.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Alternatively, peek through the park’s railings by Victoria Gate and you can catch a glimpse of the tiny tombstones. Map
Ready for your next adventure? Visit London’s weirdest museum: Museum of Curiosities.
A great number of pubs in London are hundreds of years old and have witnessed the city being changed over the centuries. Some of the most hair-rising historical events happened or started within the walls of those pubs.
One of those pubs is The Ten Bells, which is often get connected with one of the most mysterious murderers, Jack the Ripper.
The Ten Bells
The Ten Bells Pub
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The Ten Bells is standing on the corner of Commercial Street and Fournier Street, and believe it or not, has not much changed since it opened in 1752.
Due to the pub’s supposed connection to Jack the Ripper, in 1976 the landlord changed its name to ‘The Jack the Ripper’, with the hope of increasing the pub’s popularity and profit. After 12 years, however, the pub got back its original name and been operating under the name of ‘The Ten Bells’ since then.
Jack the Ripper and The Ten Bells
One of the most notorious cases in London’s criminal history is Jack the Ripper’s. Although, the mystery around him has never been solved, he is believed to have waited for his drunken victims in The Ten Bells.
During the night on 9th November 1888, a 25-year-old attractive woman with fair complexion and light hair left the pub. Her name was Mary Kelly. The next morning her landlord sent his assistant, Thomas Bowyer to collect the rent overdue from Miss Kelly.
Bowyer banged the door but received no answer. There was no doubt, however, that Mary Kelly was in the room. Bowyer went around to investigate the room through one of the broken windows only to discover Miss Kelly’s mutilated body lying on the bed.
Mary Kelly is believed to have met her murderer, Jack the Ripper, at Christ Church Spitalfields, just one-minute walk from The Ten Bells.
Just one day before, on 8th November 1888, Annie Chapman’s lifeless body was found at 29 Hanbury Street, just behind The Ten Bells.
Hanbury Street Today
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Chapman was a 47-year-old, short, pump woman, with dark curly hair and blue eyes. She was Jack the Ripper’s second victim after Mary Ann Nichols.
Nichols’ severely mutilated body was discovered in Buck’s Row, a 14-minue walk from The Ten Bells.
Ghost Haunting
Jack the Ripper’s story was not the only eerie story happened within the walls of The Ten Bells over the centuries.
During the 1990s the staff living in the building, regularly witnessed the ghost of a Victorian-dressed man appearing and disappearing.
Even today, customers regularly report about seeing the above ghost in the pub. Annie Chapman’s ghost is also believed to haunt within the building. Gusts of winds and moving objects have been reported by the staff, customers and landlords.
Jack the Ripper Museum
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Jack the Ripper Museum is a 15-minute-walk from The Ten Bells, and is located at the exact location where the Ripper murdered his third victim, Elizabeth Stride.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The six-floor museum recreates the crimes and the crime scenes.
On exploring the museum, you will learn everything we know about the crime scenes, the victims, the main suspects, the police investigation and the everyday life in the east end of London in 1888.
Tickets
You can either book your ticket online or purchase it at the door.
The museum offers guided walks to visit the real crime locations around Whitechapel.
Museum of Curiosity is definitely the weirdest museum in London and it’s not for everyone. Some return every week while others find it disgusting and never go back.
This museum is anything but standard and ordinary. Viktor Wynd, the owner of the collection, has spent a lifetime travelling the globe from Papua New Guinea to Congo to collect his weird and wonderful collection of oddities.
Another World
A spiral staircase leads the visitors into the basement of the former call centre, Museum of Curiosity has been furnished in. Down there you will find yourself in a weird eccentric world, full of odd creatures, occult cabinets, bottled and conserved animals, spell books, dead mermaids and more.
The museum’s purpose is not to attempt to educate and explain the world by a neat and labelled exhibition. Instead, Museum of Curiosity wants to shock and amaze its visitors and show the odd side of the world through a random collection of rare and priceless marvels.
So What to Expect
Relics of extinct birds, Elvis Presley’s hair, leg bone of an Irish giant, a correct mini representation of Lord Nelson’s coffin, a human scalp from the 18th century, hair of a Titanic survivor, pinned butterflies from the most hidden corners of the globe and much more.
The Bar
Museum of Curiosity opened in 2016. Being voted the ‘Best Bar in all of London’ in 2019, Absinthe Parlour & Cocktail Bar have the UK’s most extensive list of premium quality, traditional absinthes that they pair with their wide range of curious cocktails. This is the only cocktail bar hosting absinthe hour in London.
And how are the cocktails? Weird and untraditional as expected from London’s weirdest museum’s bar. Forget traditions and protocol. The cocktails here are a blend of alchemy, magic and fantasy that takes you beyond the known world to the mystery of undiscovered.
The bar gives home to skeletons, unicorn skulls, animal heads and a stuffed half lioness to share your experience with if you happen to visit the bar alone.
Perfect spot for Halloween.
Read for your next adventure? Would you dare to visit London’s most notorious (and most haunted) execution sites?
From the 16th century to the 19th century serious crimes were often punished with capital punishment. The most common method of execution was hanging on gallows, burn at the stake or beheading.
Kings and queens, smugglers and pirates, debtors and traitors lost their lives, some of them in the most gruesome way over the centuries. Most of the cities had one or more execution places for public executions.
In London, there were many notorious execution scenes, some of which are still in public mind even today. Oliver Cromwell, Guy Fawkes, King Charles I, the famous Scottish patriot Sir William Wallace and the famous pirate, Captain Kidd met their fates at one of these sites.
Tyburn Tree had nothing to do with nature or greenery. Instead, it was one of the most notorious execution scenes in London.
Located on the corner of Marble Arch, a memorial plaque is embedded into the pavement in the middle of the triangle three trees form, symbolising the gallows once stood there.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The gallows changed over times, but Marble Arch website says, the permanent triangular frame was erected in 1571. These gallows allowed 24 criminals to be hanged at the same time.
Executions were a kind of public show during the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Criminals were often carried on an open cart from Newgate Prison through St Giles in the Fields down to Oxford Street to Tyburn. On their way to the execution site, criminals were often thrown things by people who shouted and jeered.
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Even Shakespeare mentioned Tyburn Tree in Love’s Labour’s Lost: “Thou mak’st the triumviry, the corner-cap of society, The shape of Love’s Tyburn, that hangs up simplicity.”
According to Historic UK on 21 January 1664 the famous diarist, Samuel Pepys noted a full account of going to see the execution of someone he knew, Colonel James Turner. According to Pepys’ notes, there were around twelve to fourteen thousand (!) people there to see the execution.
The last execution at Tyburn was in 1783. A robber, named John Austin had been hanged there before the new place of execution become Newgate Prison.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Tyburn Convent, which is located nearby and dedicated to the memory of martyrs executed at Tyburn, also features memorials on the outside of the building. In the basement visitors can view relics such as blood-stained linen, hair and even a fingernail from the Catholic martyrs’ executions.
Tower of London and Tower Hill
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Tower of London is thought to be one of the most blood-soaked execution scenes all over in London. In fact, there were very few executions there. The Tower was held to those selected few who were for instance, members of the royal family, including Anne Boleyn or Lady Jane Grey.
Next to the Tower of London, Tower Hill was the site where most of the executions were were taken place. Today there is a memorial garden where the scaffold once stood.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Sir Thomas More, who was known for his book, ‘Utopia’ and for refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII was executed here.
Sir Thomas Wyatt, the famous poet was executed here. Likewise, Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to King Henry VIII.
On 30 January 1649 King Charles I was executed outside the Banqueting Hall on Whitehall. King Charles I was charged with high treason and other high crimes against the realm of England and sentenced to death by beheading. He refused the legality of the court because “a king cannot be tried by any superior jurisdiction on earth.”
Photo: Urban Adventurer
You may have noticed that there is a black mark next to number 2 on the clock face nearby Horse Guards. That black mark is not there without reason. The black dot commemorates the execution of King Charles I. According to Britannica King Charles I went bravely to his death. He still clamed, he was a martyr to people.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Old Place Yard
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What does Old Place Yard have to do with Bon Fire Night we are still celebrating every year? On 5 November 1605, Guy Fawkes along with his conspirators attempted to explode the Parliament and kill King James I.
He and his group transported 36 barrels of gunpowder to the cellar below the Parliament. The plan was to blow up the building on 5th November when King James I opened it. However, the plan failed. The police caught Fawkes with the gunpowder in the cellar on 4th November.
Hearing the news on the following day, people celebrated the king’s escape with fireworks all over the country.
Fawkes was imprisoned to the Tower of London to be tortured before being hanged and drowned at Old Place Yard in front of the Parliament on 31 January 1606. Fawkes body was then cut into four and sent to different parts of the country to put on display for the public to see.
This is the reason Britons celebrate Bonfire Night every year on the 5th November: to mark Fawkes failure on killing King James I.
The Elms Smithfield
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Sir William Wallace was executed here on 23 August 1305. He was one the Scotland’s greatest national heroes. He was the leader of the Scottish resistance forces during the struggle to free Scotland from the English rule.
On 5th August he was captured near Glasgow and taken to London. He was condemned as a traitor and sentenced to death. He went under the most gruesome execution imaginable. He was hung, disembowelled whilst still conscious, beheaded, and quartered. Legends say he remained silent and stoic throughout the ordeal.
Today there is a memorial not far from the scene he was executed. Even today many Sottish people pay their respect by bringing flowers to the memorial.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The leader of the Scottish War of Independence was famously portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie ‘Braveheart’ in 1995. The movie won the Academy Awards in the following year in various categories, such as the best picture, the best director and the best costume design.
Apart from Sir William Wallace, many others were killed at The Elms Smithfield. Wat Tyler was cut down by the Mayor of London, John Badby was burned in a barrel and Richard Rouse boiled to death.
The Devil’s Tavern
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During the middle ages until the 18th century there was a regular hunt for pirates and smugglers.
Opened in 1520, The Devil’s Tavern (today The Prospect of Whitby) is the oldest riverside inn in London, and during those old times in history it had a dubious reputation thanks to smugglers, pirates and thieves it attracted.
Located in Wapping, The Devil’s Tavern has seen a lot of pirates being hanged on the riverside.
Photo: urban Adventurer
One of them was Captain William Kidd. The famous pirate was hanged on 23 May 1701. To deter other pirates Captain Kidd was hung in a cage and his body was left there to rot for all to see along the River Themes.
There was a legend that Captain Kidd had buried all his treasure in the Caribbean. After his death generations of treasure hunters travelled to the Caribbean Islands to find his treasure. Although, the treasure has never been discovered, Captain Kidd left a story behind that inspired books, movies and even cartoons.
In the middle ages and during the 18th century a series of gibbet stood at the bank of the River Themes, called Execution Dock. A replica gibbet is still standing behind The Prospect of Whitby.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Nearby of Captain Kidd’s execution scene a pub preserves the notorious pirate’s name. Captain Kidd pub is designed to look like a ship hulk. Old, framed newspaper articles and letters are hanging on the walls, telling the life and death of one of the most famous pirates in the world.
River Neckinger
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River Neckinger is just a stone-throw away from Tower Bridge and 20-minute walk from The Clink Prison Museum. To get there we have to walk among the walls of Shad Thames that was the largest warehouse complex in London during the 19th century.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
The river’s name is believed to come from the term ‘Devil’s neckcloth’. It’s a slang for the hangman’s noose. A ‘neckercher’ is an old word for a cravat or other covering of the neck.
Until the 18th century, Thames pirates were executed near the mouth of the inlet. The corpses then were placed on display for all to see.
The area was once notoriously filthy and described as “The very capital of cholera” and “The Venice of drains”. Large masses of rotting weed and dead animals were floating in the water which was covered with thick grease.
Charring Cross traditionally marks the centre of London but during the 17th century it was a location of public executions. King Charles II took revenge here against the killers of his father, King Charles I who had been beheaded in 1649 at Banqueting Hall.
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This is how Samuel Pepys the famous diarist recorded a public execution at Charring Cross he had witnessed on 13 October 1660:
“To my Lord’s in the morning, where I met with Captain Cuttance, but my Lord not being up I went out to Charing Cross, to see Major-general Harrison hanged, drawn, and quartered; which was done there, he looking as cheerful as any man could do in that condition. He was presently cut down, and his head and heart shown to the people, at which there was great shouts of joy.”
St Paul’s Churchyard is maybe a peace public park today where we go to rest and enjoy a lazy sunny day. Back then in the 17th century, however, St Paul’s Churchyard was an execution site. There were only a handful of executions taken place there, but the churchyard was held for the extreme criminals, and they were executed in the most gruesome way.
On 30 January 1606 four of the infamous Gunpowder Plotters who wanted to explode the Parliament and kill King James I – Sir Everard Digby, Robert Winter, John Grant and Thomas Bates – were hanged and disembowelled here.
The corner of Fleet Street and Fetter Lane was a popular execution scene especially during the turbulent time that followed the reign of King Henry VIII. In the 1590s the junction of Fetter Lane and Fleet Street was an execution scene of Catholics, and the site remained in use until at least 1733.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
Central Criminal Court – Old Bailey
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Even the most extreme criminals stepped into the ‘Dead Man’s Walk’ with fear. Hundreds of criminals were led to gallows from the 16th century to the very beginning of the 20th century. The last execution was taken place here on 6 May 1902. George Woolfe was hanged here for murdering his girlfriend, Charlotte Cheeseman. – writes the Daily Mailin his article in 2013.
The Marshalsea (1373-1842) was a notorious prison in Southwark and was most famous for being the prison of the poorest debtors.
On 20 February 1824 John Dickens, father of the famous novelist, Charles Dickens was imprisoned for debt he owned for his baker. His debt was £40 and 10 shillings.
Charles Dickens was only 12 years old at that time and to support his family, was obliged to work.
Photo: Urban Adventurer
This experience had deeply touched Dickens, and this was that led him to write about debtors so often in many of his novels.
Dickens himself witnessed the public execution of Mr And Mrs Manning on 13 November 1849 at Horsemonger Lane. Following the execution Dickens sent a letter to The Times in which he depicted his experiences:
“When the two miserable creatures who attracted all this ghastly sight about them were turned quivering into the air, there was no more emotion, no more pity, no more thought that two immortal souls had gone to judgement, no more restraint in any of the previous obscenities, than if the name of Christ had never been heard in this world, and there were no belief among men but that they perished like the beasts.”
Given, London was the largest and most influential city in the country, it provided the backdrop some of most famous executions in the history.
Death penalty was abolished in 1965 and the execution sites have seen significant transformation over the centuries. Some of them became public park, underground station or a simple road junction, while others preserved their original function. There is one thing that these places share: they are said to be still haunted by those lost their lives there.
Ready for your next adventure? Visit one of London’s most haunted places if you dare, The Clink Prison Museum.
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