| London might be the sunny capital of cool Britannia but | | | | of Shrewsbury (the so called 'Princes in the Tower') |
| its long history has produced plenty of less than | | | | were famously murdered here on the orders of their |
| seemly incidents - here are a few recommendations | | | | uncle, the Duke of Gloucester - their bones were |
| for visitors with a taste for the macabre... | | | | recently excavated. |
| First stop has to be the London Dungeon in Tooley | | | | Anne Boleyn was locked up by her husband, Henry VIII, |
| Street, near London Bridge. This gruesome theme park | | | | and even Queen Elizabeth I spent some time here |
| uses live actors and special effects to bring gory | | | | before starting her reign. Sir Walter Raleigh, Guy |
| moments in the city's history to vivid life. Visitors | | | | Fawkes and Thomas More have done time here too. |
| experience the horrors of medieval torture and the | | | | Even right into the twentieth century the Tower was |
| Great Plague of 1665, including watching a doctor | | | | still in use; more modern day prisoners included Rudolf |
| perform an operation without anesthetic, then take a | | | | Hess and the Kray twins. Many prisoners were |
| boat ride that recreates the last journey of a man | | | | tortured, often on the rack, which stretched them |
| condemned to death at the Tower of London. The | | | | painfully, and executed, generally by being beheaded |
| notorious deeds of two infamous serial killers, | | | | with an axe. There are plenty of these chilling |
| Sweeney Todd and Jack the Ripper, are dramatized, | | | | implements on display today. Prisoners were brought |
| as is the Great Fire of London of 1666. Visitors end up | | | | here by boat through Traitor's Gate - which is still |
| condemned to death by a (rather hammy) hanging | | | | there, though mercifully the wall above it is no longer |
| judge. Exhibits are as humorous as they are twisted | | | | decorated with severed heads on spikes. All this |
| and gory, so any youngsters in your party should | | | | history has left the Tower the most haunted building in |
| (hopefully) be titillated rather than traumatized. | | | | England: among the ghosts that have been seen here |
| For real historical horror to spark the imagination you | | | | are those of Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey and Anne |
| can't beat the Tower of London, scene of many a | | | | Boleyn - she carries her head under her arm. |
| gruesome real life incident. The Tower is really a | | | | Another notorious old prison - the Clink, on Southwark's |
| castle, built in 1078 by William the Conqueror to protect | | | | Clink Street - is now a museum. This dank, dark building |
| the city from foreign invaders, and much expanded | | | | was used as a prison from the twelfth to the |
| over the centuries. It developed a fearsome reputation | | | | seventeenth century. As well as the usual debtors and |
| as a place of execution and torture. Among the | | | | drunks, it held plenty of religious non-conformists and |
| aristocratic prisoners it held - most of whom never | | | | priests. You can see the cramped, lightless cells they |
| saw the world outside the walls again - were John | | | | were kept in, the manacles and chains that hold them |
| Balliol, King of Scotland; John II, King of France; | | | | and the torture instruments they would have lived in |
| noblemen captured at the Battle of Agincourt such as | | | | mortal terror of. A soundtrack of moans and groans |
| Charles I de Valois; Henry VI and his mistress, | | | | and waxwork dioramas do a good job of evoking the |
| Margaret of Anjou; and George Plantagenet, brother | | | | hellish life of a convict - and make this one a bit too |
| of King Edward IV. Edward V and his brother Richard | | | | adult for young kids. |