Borough Market - Inns and alleys 700 years of literature explored

5 reviews

Duration - 1 hour 30 minutes

EUR 15 p.p. onwards

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Greater London, United Kingdom

You will be taken by a qualified tour guide and London expert through the historic streets of Borough. We will find the hidden gems that not even the locals know.

Guests will explore the inns and alleyways that Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens walked and see the sites that have been here since medieval times.

We will visit where Dicken's father was imprisoned for debit. We will see where Chaucer's pilgrims set off on their Canterbury Tales 600 over years ago. Even visit the pub that Shakespeare may well have drank in!

From England's first English bible to Henry V's Falstaff Borough has played a central role in England's history.

This tour is a must for those who want to understand where English literature
has its roots.

I am a fully qualified guide, giving fun, friendly and informative tours.

Tours are small, meeting covid safety guidelines and are a great way to reintroduce you and your friends back to London.

Available options

Borough Market - Inns and alleys 700 years of literature explored 13:00

EUR 15
p.p. onwards

Itinerary
This is a typical itinerary for this product

Pass By: Borough Market, 8 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TL England

We will talk about the history of the market in Borough. We will hear about the area's role in shaping England's earliest Bibles.

Stop At: George, 75 Borough High St, London SE1 1NH, UK

A classic stage coaching inn, with links to Shakespeare and Dickens. We will visit the site of the Tabard Inn, where Canterbury Tales is set, written over 600 years ago.
We will also learn more about the poet Keats and the philosopher Wittgenstein and their time at Guys Hospital.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: St George the Martyr, Marshalsea Street / Tabard Street / Long Lane Opp. Borough Station Borough Borough High Street Southwark, London SE1 1JA England

With a poet laureate in its graveyard and Little Doritt's fire place this church is rich in history. We will visit the Marshalsea Prison, that played a central role in shaping the young Charles Dickens.

Duration: 10 minutes

Stop At: Crossbones Graveyard & Garden of Remembrance, Junction of Redcross Way and Union Street Entrance by the Golden Gates on Union Street, London SE1 1TA England

This medieval paupers graveyard is rich in mystery and history. With over 15,000 bodies and a history back to medieval times it is a site not to be missed.

Duration: 10 minutes

Terms & conditions

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start time of the experience.

Additional info

Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation
Infants must sit on laps
Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
Face masks required for guides in public areas
Hand sanitizer available to travelers and staff
Social distancing enforced throughout experience
Guides required to regularly wash hands
Face masks provided for travelers
Gear/equipment sanitized between use
All tours limited to 5 or less people - ideally single group booking tours. Tours 100% outdoors and socially distanced. Tours through uncrowded areas.
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate
Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability

Inclusions

Disposable masks - covid
Details of Borough attractions

Departure time

01:00 PM

Departure point

George, 75 Borough High St, London SE1 1NH, UK

Recent reviews

O9591DUcourtneyp 16th September 2022

Really great walking tour of Borough market area yesterday. Stephen has lots of local knowledge which makes the tour both very interesting but also fun.

ali5143 9th March 2020

Stephen is an excellent - and funny - guide and knows so much about London's history and the history of Southwark in particular. I really enjoyed the stories he told but most of all I enjoyed being able to see, in my mind's eye, what Borough must have looked like hundreds of years ago because he painted such a vivid picture of it.

samswift 6th March 2020

"WHAT THE DICKENS???" I exclaimed loudly when I heard within thirty seconds of the tour beginning that my humble local post office, the hitherto bane of my life due to an unfortunate incident with a recorded delivery to Belfast, had considerably more esteemed history that I shan't reveal to keep a cloud of mystique. An excellent tour from an excellent guide around a neglected bit of London's literary history. Macabre and mirthful in equal measures, I thoroughly recommend this enlightening and fascinating glimpse into some of the inspirations of the English canon. Stephen was an excellent cicerone throughout; encyclopaedic and entertaining to the last.

douglasolley 5th March 2020

Excellent tour down streets less traveled around London Bridge. Very interesting literary facts and description of how the area used to operate. Fantastic talk on multiple literary icons all concentrated

gallagher_tim 5th March 2020

Insightful tour of various hidden literary gems in the Borough area. Takes in Chaucer, Shakespeare and Dickens in the space of just a few neighbouring streets - well worth going along for anyone with an interest in the history of London or English literature. You'll discover some great historic pubs along the way as well.