Ghosts of Fleet Street: A Twilight Murder Tour

An immersive whirlwind tour celebrating seven centuries of bribery, gossip and booze on the Street of Shame.

Immerse yourself in the depraved history of Fleet Street on this twilight tour led by media historian Dr Matthew Green alongside a troupe of actors and musicians.

Includes free tankards of ale in some of London’s most venerable taverns and shots of limoncello at the end.

Ever since an eccentric Alsatian printer called Wynkyn de Worde set up shop at the sign of the sun in St Bride’s Churchyard in 1495, Fleet Street has been associated with knowledge, enlightenment, and democracy. Fiercely independent, it has been hailed as the Palladium of British liberties holding successive governments to account.

But it has a dark side. The story of the mass media is also a story of exploitation, voyeurism, greed and murder.

This mesmerising tour tells the chilling story of British journalism from its inky medieval beginnings to its 20th-century heyday and destruction. In the spotlight will be the victims of the “feral beast” — from the daredevil printers dismembered by royal censor Sir Roger l’Estrange in the 1660s to the noblemen exposed and humiliated in courtesan Kitty Fisher’s explosive sexual memoirs in the 18th century, from a rhinoceros who propped up the bar of a Ludgate Hill tavern in the 1670s to the hapless Admiral Byng, sent to a watery grave by the Monitor newspaper in 1757 as part of a ruthless media witch hunt.

Beginning at the guildhall of the worshipful company of Stationers and finishing with limoncello served by arch-hack Dr Johnson outside his house in Gough Square, don’t miss this highly original, transportive experience from “best tour company in London” (- Culture Critic) Unreal City Audio. As recommended by the Guardian, Telegraph, BBC, and Culture Critic.

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