It’s not every day you can meet a succession of infamous, shudder-inducing characters from history in less than two, albeit pretty tense, hours. But, at London Dungeons this is a regular occurrence, with their theatrical descent into the dark past bringing you face to face with the city’s most notorious scoundrels, traitors and murderers.
Since originally opening in 1974 as a wax exhibition, the iconic attraction developed into a walkthrough experience bringing macabre moments and the grisly side of bygone times to life with live actors and devious thrills. If you’ve had your fill of sunshine and smiley sightseeing, you can venture into the shadowy depths of the dungeons to meet the following wretched souls…
Guy Fawkes
Remember, remember the fifth of November? I think most of us do. So, we’re starting in a grey zone when it comes to history’s ‘bad guys’ here – with Guy Fawkes, it might depend who you ask. He could be a murderous traitor, desperate antihero or even just the unfortunate fall guy. Ultimately though, his part in the plotting got him captured and sent to the rat-infested dungeons for a terrible end, and that’s where you’ll find him, or at least a version of him. London Dungeons shines a shaky candlelight on his 10 days of torture and invites you to experience what might happen if the fuse was lit and Guy Fawkes was successful on that fateful day.
Elizabeth Sawyer
A few stops later, after braving the Torture Chamber and witnessing the Black Plague infecting the masses, you’ll be whisked back to 1621 to meet the ‘great witch of Edmonton ’, Elizabeth Sawyer. A victim of King James I’s paranoid obsession with witchcraft, Sawyer was accused after the sudden death of a neighbour whom she had threatened days prior for hitting her pig.
During her highly publicised trial, her body was searched and a mark that ‘suggested she fed her blood to the devil’ was supposedly found. Surprisingly, she later confessed to the murder of her neighbour and claimed she was often visited by a demon in the form of a black dog, who seduced her into allying with Satan. Not so surprisingly, considering the mass superstition of the time, she was found guilty and hanged. Be careful in the Dungeons, as you’ll soon discover, witch, murderer or innocent, Sawyer is not one to be trifled with.
Mrs Lovett
We venture into the realms of fiction with this next one. You’ll arrive at Fleet Street to meet the rosy-cheeked Mrs Lovett and her not-so-tempting selection of famous pies. Known as the cunning accomplice of Sweeney Todd, the character was first written into existence in the Victorian penny dreadful serial called The String of Pearls and has since been brought to life by the likes of Helena Bonham Carter, Patti LuPone and Christine Baranski in various adaptations of the serial killer story. Then, if you somehow don’t know already, the London Dungeons will reveal the grisly secret ingredient of her popular pies and find out exactly why there’s a suspicious trap door in her shop. You can’t crust anyone.
Been meaning to book in a haircut? Mrs Lovett’s assistant will lead the way to the barbershop. The iconic penny dreadful villain and London urban legend Sweeney Todd might stick to the shadows during your visit, but make sure to keep an ear out.
Thankfully, a fictional character – at least that’s what scholars assure us – the demon barber of Fleet Street is thought to have been created as a morbid play on the fact that barbers were often also surgeons on the side during the Victorian era. Though, there are also rumours that this duo was inspired by a 14th-century tale from France about a killer Parisian barber and a neighbouring butcher with a penchant for meat pies. Whether it was real or speculation remains to be seen…
Jack the Ripper
This wouldn’t be a walk down London’s macabre memory lane without one of the darkest figures in the city’s long, and let’s face it, already pretty grim, history. After learning the names of his poor victims, hurrying through the perilous fog-laced labyrinth of Whitechapel and finding sanctuary from a storm in the famous Ten Bells Pub, you’ll be told the chilling tale of Jack the Ripper by the pub’s owner. The identity of the brutal serial killer is a mystery that plagues people to this day. So, I would be sure to keep your wits about you, as you never know who is watching.
