Take a free walking tour around Smithfield, a meat market since 1174 (and the City of London’s only wholesale food market still in it’s original location) and the edge of London’s first suburb Clerkenwell (settled in the Middle Ages) – passing the sites of 2 of London’s most important Medieval religious institutions and it’s oldest hospital.
Learn about the bloody and gruesome history of the area and find out the answers to the following questions:
Which spice grown in Clerkenwell was used to disguise the taste of rancid meat?
Where was the river of blood?
What happened to the arms and legs of William Wallace? And why did the Prior of Charterhouse suffer a similar fate?
Where were 40,000 victims of the black death buried and what is there now?
Where did Bloody Mary feast on chicken and red wine while watching protestant martyrs burning at the stake?
And most importantly:
Where can you get a pint at 7 am and what is a “City Boy’s Breakfast”?
We will be stopping for a drink at 4 pubs of exceptional historical and architectural interest and your guide will be happy to give recommendations for local cask ales and gins (don’t forget to bring some money for the drinks!).
Pay What You Can
St Paul’s Underground Station, exit 2 next to Caffe Nero – EC2V 6AA(view on Google Maps)
Ye Olde Mitre Pub, 1 Ely Ct, Ely Pl, London EC1N 6SJ (view on Google Maps)
15 minutes prior to the starting time
The Bloomsbury Pub Tour exceeded our expectations! It was a great mix of history of London and a pub crawl with a nice group of people. Mark made the evening absolutely interesting and enjoyable, despite the cold weather. He is very knowledgeable and passionate, and answered all our questions. He told us lot of history as well as curiosities related to the old times. A pleasant evening filled with fun, which we absolutely enjoyed and would definitely recommend! Thank you Mark! Looking forward to booking the next tour with you!
I found out about the tour only because some friends had published on their FB page, it has been a fantastic evening! Mark was superlative in explaining history with interesting details making it also enjoyable a funny. I highly recommend you do it!
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