Haunted Happenings Ghost Hunts

London Tombs by Day

If The London Bridge Experience is not for you by night, why not visit Europe's most scariest attraction by day. Your experience will begin from the minute you arrive. As you come inside you will enter a medieval world of knights and chivalry, reflecting a famous joust on the bridge in 1390, and then it's through to the action with your very own Victorian tour guide.

There are recreations of the wooden, stone and medieval bridges, all of which include live characters in full regalia of the time. And you will experience first hand the fires that destroyed the bridge and find out exactly how the famous 'London Bridge is Falling Down' song came about.

A truly interactive experience, the tour seeks to educate, to excite and to leave lasting memories of the world's most famous bridge, and its fascinating 2000 year history.

When you venture down from the vaults, you will enter the real tombs of the bridge.

There is only one way out of the tombs, and that way is forward and deeper into the heart of the bridge - these hallowed grounds were once the plague pits of 14th century London, so beware what awaits. You never know what is lurking round the next corner.....

London Bridge Experience
2-4 Tooley Street
Southwark
London SE1
Closest Underground: London Bridge (Jubilee & Northern Lines)
Open Daily:
10am until 6pm Seven days per week*
*Except 24th Dec, 26th Dec, 31st Dec, 1st Jan 11:00am-4:00pm
Christmas Day when The London Bridge Experience is closed
For more information please visit The London Bridge Experience website

History of the London Tombs

In A.D. 43 London did not exist when the invading Roman army marched inland and saw them being faced with the river Thames.  The Romans probably erected a bridge near to the site of the later Mediaeval bridge.

The first London Bridge was built around A.D. 80 from the Southwark settlement. The northern end of the settlement grew to a large town which later became London

After the Romans had left the bridge probably fell into disrepair and was replaced by a ferry and intermittent timber bridges built in Saxon Times.

It was not until 984 when the next records emerged of a bridge crossing the Thames. The records show that a widow and her son had driven pins into an image of a man. The woman was taken to the wooden bridge and drowned whilst her son had escaped.

1014 saw the Saxons under King Ethelred the Unready.   A band of Vikings led by King Olaf sailed up the Thames to attack the bridge controlled by the Danes. They rowed under the bridge, put ropes around the pillar supports, rowed off, pulling the bridge down. This is where the song “London Bridge is Falling Down” comes from.
There were two other bridges to follow, one being swept away by a storm in 1091.  A third bridge was built in 1163 by a priest named Peter de Colechurch, who vowed he would build a bridge of stone.

The first stone bridge took thirty three years to build. Work commenced under the direction of Peter de Colechurch in the reign of Henry II. The bridge once finished had seen the reign of three monarchs, Henry II, Richard the Lionheart and John. The bridge was completed in 1209 and lasted 600 years. Its road was 20 feet wide and 300 yards long supported by 20 arches, curving to a point in gothic style. There was a gatehouse and drawbridge and even street houses to provide rent for the upkeep of the bridge.

1269 is probably the source of the present version of the song “London Bridge is Falling Down – My Fair Lady”, composed in the 13th century when Queen Eleanor was given the tolls from the bridge as a present from her husband, Henry III in 1269. Unfortunately she was a prolific spender and used the toll money for herself instead of spending it on the bridge.
Because of this the bridge fell into disrepair.  The City of London finally regained control in 1281 but that winter heavy ice pushing against the ill maintained structure suffered when 5 arches collapsed and a temporary wooden bridge had to be built.

The roof of the stone gate house had poles which were used for traitors’ heads. This was started in 1304 and continued until 1678. Probably one of the most famous heads to be seen on one of the poles was Oliver Cromwell’s in the 17th century.
The bridge contained many fine houses and one of which was most certainly lived in by Sir John Hewitt, one of London’s Mayors. It is said that his daughter fell out of the window into the Thames below and Sir John’s apprentice, Edward Osborne dived into the Thames and rescued her. She was later to marry Osborne who later became Mayor.

The bloodiest night in the history of the bridge was on the 5th July 1450 when rebels led by Jack Cade burnt houses and slaughtered hundreds by sword. The rebellion was eventually brought under control and Cade’s head was stuck on a pole over the drawbridge.

1577 saw the Nonesuch House built to replace the New stone Gate, it stretched across the bridge with a tunnel running through it at street level. The south end of the bridge was then used for a somewhat disturbing tradition of displaying heads and limbs of traitors, as it took the place of the original Traitors Gate.

1633 saw forty three houses destroyed and many shops damaged, when a maid servant left a pail of hot ashes under some wooden stairs. The bridge escaped the Great Fire of 1666 as the fire before left a great gap which the flames could not cross. This fire lasted 4 days but only the new houses on the end of the bridge were burnt.

In 1722 the keep left rule was introduced to control congestion on the bridge, this is still in force today on all British roads.
1763 saw all the house pulled down and the bridge widened and also partly rebuilt. The centre arch was made wider but this created problems because the main flow of the river was concentrated at one point which started to tear at the bridges existing piers which made the bridge unstable.

There were proposals for a new bridge in 1800 to replace the old bridge, but it was not until 1821 that a committee was appointed by Parliament to consider the condition of the bridge. By then the arches had been damaged by the great freeze and it was decided that a new bridge would be built. A competition was held which produced many designs and in 1824 John Rennie’s plans were accepted. The new bridge was built 180 feet west of the old bridge and for sometime Londoner’s could see the old and the new side by side.

John Rennie’s bridge did not last that long, when in the 1960’s plans were drawn up for a new modern bridge. The old bridge had sunk twelve inches at the southern end even on completion and continued to sink unevenly by an inch every eight years after. However the bridge was spared total destruction when American Robert McCulloch learned that the British Government was putting the bridge up for sale. He bought the bridge for $2,460,00 and moved the bridge stone by stone to Lake Havasu City in Arizona.

Testimonial

Just wanted to thank you and your team for an amazing night last night! We all had a fantastic time, and got great feedback from everybody who took part last night. You all did a fabulous job co-ordinating the activities, and were very engaging - I think every group experienced something!

You've certainly opened me up from being a scaredy-cat about all things paranormal, and would definitely recommend your company to anyone thinking of doing a ghost hunt. Heck, I'd probably do it again myself!

Again, can't thank you and your team enough, you were all terrific!
Leanne - publicity company - Paranormal Activity 2 Launch Night

Forum Quote

"Before I atended this event I would have told people that I was an 'open minded sceptic' however after last nights events I must admit that I am well on my way to believing in the paranormal."

London Tombs Dates