London Dungeon
Do you want to make your time in London really worth the while? Do you want to enjoy and experience the 1,000 year old history of London and see the legendary characters like Jack the Ripper and Sweeney Todd in real time? If you are interested in seeing the real soul of London at one place, the London Dungeon is the perfect place for you.
Established in 1974 by Annabel Geddes, it was planned to be a museum of unusually macabre history, able to scare any visitor, no matter how hard-boiled. With the passage of time it continued to evolve to the exhibition one can witness today. It was situated initially at Tooley Street, London Bridge, but in 2013 it was shifted to London’s Country Hall on the South Bank, next to the stunning London Eye.
Today, it is operated by Merlin Entertainments which has no less than eight Dungeons all over the Europe. The London Dungeon features 18 shows, 20 actors and three rides. It takes the visitors through a historical journey showing them the 1,000 year old history of London. The shows staged here are no ordinary shows. Special background effects, a feeling of history and unprecedented acting make them something really worth enjoying. The shows staged here include the Black Death and The Gunpowder Plot. Characters like the notorious “Plague Doctor” and “The Torturer” are seen performing their horrifying acts.
The shows, however, are not all what London dungeon has to offer. The administration makes sure that the horrifying shows are an interactive experience by encouraging the visitors to participate in the shows. According to most, the very best part of the tour is the “Drop Ride To Doom”. If you are thinking that they will take you and show you some petty stage shows and then doom you, you’re up to a big surprise. Just the name is Drop Ride To Doom, also known as Drop Dead! It’s a free fall ride staged as public hanging which was one of the customs of good old London. The catch here is that you are the one sentenced to death by hanging, after being found guilty of witchcraft!
You may be thinking that visiting any ordinary museum – some boring museum, to be more precise – will be a better option to discover the true history of London. There are two reasons why that may not be so. Number one, average museums are spooky boring places with nothing on display that can be called fascinating. Number two, in a museum you can only watch and learn, but here in London Dungeon you can really experience the history of London and see it happen in front of your own eyes. Some of the major shows and attractions are the following:
- Descent
Descent into the very heart of the Dungeon for the ultimate historical Journey with Lift Jester as your guide. Let us know if you made it through alive!
- Guy Fawkes
See what could have happened if Guy Fawkes had succeeded in his Gunpowder Plot intentions to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
- The Plague Doctor
Just survive. The art of living, at least in the heart of the Black Death years, lies in the art of survival. Absurd but true. See what cured plague before penicillin was invented, and whether some people were actually buried alive!
Who is allowed to enter the London Dungeon?
As a simple rule, anyone who is above 12 years of age and still has a beating heart can come and visit us and experience the thrilling history of London. But we demand that if there are some worthy guests under 16 years of age, they must be accompanied by an elder. And no, you do not have to bring your granny, just someone brave above 18 will do.