London Old City Dark History Walking Tour - Plague Pits & Roman Amphitheatre

Walk with a guide
through the dark history of London's Old City

Walk for about 1.5 hours with a live English-speaking guide through London's Old City, where traces of the medieval and Tudor eras still remain. Along streets that have barely changed in centuries, you can stand on the very spots where condemned people drew their last breath.

Pass a plague burial ground and the Smithfield execution site

Starting from the Barbican, head to Charterhouse Square. It is a quiet square today, but about 600 years ago it was a burial ground for Black Death victims. Nearby Smithfield hosted medieval jousting tournaments and was where figures such as William Wallace (Braveheart) were executed.

Discover the medieval church of St Bartholomew the Great

Between these two sites stands St Bartholomew the Great, one of London's finest medieval churches. It appeared in the films Four Weddings and a Funeral and Sherlock Holmes, and you can soak up the atmosphere of its medieval churchyard.

Pass traces of the Blitz on the way to the Roman amphitheatre

Pass the walls of a church destroyed in the Blitz and a park with a memorial to heroic self-sacrifice. Finally, explore around the site of London's long-forgotten Roman amphitheatre and finish the tour at Guildhall Yard (1 Guildhall Yard).