Private tour in London Laura A

Pricing Details
Base cost of tour
  • $ 413 USD

Gin Lane: Thieves and Thief-takers in the Night-Cellars of London

Tour #1185707
Pricing Details
Base cost of tour

up to 4 people

2 hours 30 minutes

Walking

Party Size:

1

Overview of your London tour:

The area of Seven Dials was notorious for poverty and crime in the 18th century. With no organised police force, thieves, highwaymen and fences bribed those hired to catch them, meeting in low-down dives where they spoke a secret language called flash. The notoriously corrupt Jonathan Wild captured thief Jack Sheppard more than once, but Jack made dramatic escapes from prison aided by his sexworker-partner Edgworth Bess. With gin selling at a penny a glass, carousing was full-on in areas outsiders called rookeries, thieves' kitchens, the Holy Land (because of the Irish) and, for Drury Lane's red-light zone, Little Sodom. A range of middle-class spies, social investigators, reporters and slum-tourists came to look and sometimes participate in goings-on they found appalling and titillating. John Gay portrayed popular hero Jack Sheppard and Public Enemy Jonathan Wild in the characters of Captain Macheath and Mr Peachum, in The Beggar's Opera, London's favourite theatre-piece in the 18th century. What fun eh?

Your London tour itinerary

Meet at Leicester Square station Tower Court - living and playing in cellars Seven Dials Pillar - leaning as pastime, vagrancy as crime Earlham Street - broadside ballads celebrate crime Monmouth Street - hanging gardens, pickpocketing children Neal's Yard - a Ragged School for street kids Short's Gardens - Dosshouses Dudley Court - the Workhouse Drury Lane - Night Houses where criminals met Macklin Street - Almshouses Dragon Court - St Joseph's School, the Irish migration Parker Street - Lodginghouses Endell Street - Bagnio (public bathhouse), prostitutes met clients Shaftesbury Avenue - Dudley Street old-shoes market St Giles in the Fields church - leper hospital, the old roundhouse gaol 5-minute walk to Tottenham Court Road station

Customize your tour

Contact your local guide to know more!!

Transportation Details
Type: Walking

Walking all the way, beginning at one central-London tube station and ending near another.

What's included
  • Other
  • Private Guide
What's extra
  • Other: Personal expenses. Public transport in London can be paid by tapping in and out at turnstiles with debit and credit cards and forms of mobile payment.
  • Public Transportation
  • Food Drinks Snacks
Meeting location

Airport: ,Cruise: ,Station: Leicester Square Station: I'll tell you exact exit and location to meet at in this sprawling station.,ByGuide:

  • You can request a different meeting location (for example, your hotel) during the checkout process.
Other details
Tour categories

City Highlights

History

Languages
Fluent

English

Basic

French

Basic

Italian

Conversational

Spanish

Activity level
Minimal

Book with a 20% deposit!

Size:

up to 4 people

Duration:

2 hours 30 minutes

Transportation:

Walking

Party Size:

1

Select tour date
Select tour start time

View our Cancellation policy

$ 413 USD

Book with a 20% deposit!

Size:

up to 4 people

Duration:

2 hours 30 minutes

Transportation:

Walking

Party Size:

1

Select tour date
Select tour start time

View our Cancellation policy

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