Discover Secret London: hidden places off the beaten track, historical oddities, quirky bars, sites of the unusual and the unknown.
Place
Gunnersbury Park
Named for a Viking royal, Gunnersbury Park has a fascinating history but perhaps should have been torn down over 90 yea…
Charing Cross Station: Ten Surprising Facts
War, severed body parts, a 700 year old monument, a fatal roof collapse and the world's first underground railway, Char…
Bethnal Green
The former stomping ground of both Jack the Ripper and the Kray Twins, Bethnal Green was a parish of large, well-to-do …
The Dramatic History of Shoreditch High Street
Shoreditch High Street – the old main street of Shoreditch – where iconic street art and outdoor markets meet vintage c…
Greenwich Park
For centuries a royal hunting ground, Greenwich Park is today famous as the birthplace of time as we know it, and a lov…
Nelson's Column
An iconic London monument built in honour of Lord Nelson who died leading the British fleet to victory in the Battle of…
Barbican Conservatory
A rainforest in the centre of London, Barbican Conservatory is the unlikely home of a reformed gang of turtles that onc…
Pudding Lane
A street named not for sweets but for animal guts, Pudding Lane is the site of Farriner's bakery, where the Great Fire …
Sky Garden
A stunning garden with panoramic views of London or 'a meagre pair of rockeries in a space designed with all the finess…
Seven Dials Market
A huge foodhall in the heart of one of London's most vibrant and bizarre neighbourhoods, Seven Dials Market is the perf…
Southmere Lake
Southmere Lake, or the 'Flatblock Marina', is a brutalist estate in Thamesmead, London, famous for its role as a totali…
Primrose Hill London
Primrose Hill is a London park and the site of a mysterious 17th century murder that resulted in the hanging of three i…
The Foundling Museum
The Foundling Museum commemorates the Foundling Hospital, which is thought to be the world's first incorporated charity…
Chelsea Physic Garden
Founded in 1673, Chelsea Physic Garden is a picturesque reminder of the vital role that botanical gardens played in the…
Neasden Temple
Neasden Temple (or BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir as it is properly known) was the first traditional Hindu temple in Eur…
Little Venice
London's answer to Italy's 'Floating City', or a realtor's cynical attempt to make the most of a couple of canals, Litt…
Bedlam Asylum
Over eight centuries old, Bethlem Royal Hospital (aka Bedlam Asylum) offers a harrowing look into England's past mistre…
Jack Straw's Castle
This odd building stands on the site on which Peasant's Revolt leader, Jack Straw, is said to have sheltered before bei…
Wellington Arch
Hyde park's Wellington Arch is the epitomy of a UK public works project: it was left unfinished for years and has a his…
Kensal Green Cemetery
Today, Western cultures shy away from the thought of death, but this wasn't always the case. Kensal Green Cemetery is a…
Leake Street Arches
Hidden beneath Waterloo station, Leake Street Arches is a disused Eurostar tunnel that's been transformed into a street…
Crossbones Graveyard
Crossbones Graveyard is the unconsecrated final resting place of Medieval London's sex workers, 'The Winchester Geese'.…
William Blake's House
'I must create a system, or be enslaved by another man's.' In this house lived William Blake: poet, visionary, rebel, g…
The Hardy Tree
Thomas Hardy, author of Far From The Madding Crowd and architect of one of London's strangest landmarks: The Hardy Tree.
Old St Pancras Burial Ground
Mary Shelley famously started writing her classic novel 'Frankenstein' during a stormy stay at Lord Byron's Lake Geneva…
Viktor Wynd Museum
The Viktor Wynd Museum: where else can you find old master etchings alongside celebrity faeces; Happy Meal toys next to…
Twinings Tea Shop
Before there was Starbucks, before there was Coca Cola, before there was even the USA, there was the Twinings tea shop.
Flicker Alley
Known locally as Flicker Alley, Cecil Court was a vital hub of early British cinema with international connections.
Wormwood Scrubs
A London prison made famous by a Michael Caine film, a song by The Jam and a rooftop protest by the IRA, Wormwood Scrub…
The Temple of Mithras
The remnants of an ancient military cult that once threatened to takeover the world, the Temple of Mithras is a London …
50 Berkeley Square
Once declared the most haunted house in London, 50 Berkeley Square has a body count to send shivers down your spine. Th…
Goodwin's Court
A Georgian alley thought to be one of the main inspirations of Harry Potter's Diagon Alley, Goodwin's Court is the perf…
Highgate Cemetery
Satanism, sex rituals, vampires and duels: Highgate Cemetery was the inspiration behind Christopher Lee's Dracula, but …
Leadenhall Market
Leadenhall Market is home to Harry Potter's Leaky Cauldron pub. It's most magical resident, however, might be a Victori…
St Dunstan-in-the-East
The overgrown ruins of a 900 year old London church, St Dunstan-in-the-East is like a window into an alternate history.
St Mary Abbots Gardens
Kensington is a bustling area of London full to bursting with museums, centres of learning, galleries, shops, and resta…
Little Compton Street
Little Compton Street: A buried Bohemian time capsule beneath London's modern roads?
Mercato Mayfair
An artisanal food hall based in a Greek revival church, Mercato Mayfair has it all... if by 'it all' you mean delicious…
Mount Street Gardens
Hidden next to Mayfair's Grosvenor Chapel, Mount Street Gardens is one of London's most peaceful beauty spots. Then aga…
The Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy Arts has been fostering artistic talent for over two centuries now. It is fitting, then, that it is b…
Lincoln's Inn
With elements dating back to the 1400s, and from every century since, Lincoln's Inn is a treasure trove of London archi…
Handel and Hendrix in London
Handel and Hendrix were born over two hundred years and one thousand miles apart, but, despite this, they had a lot in …
Beau Brummell Statue
The definition of a dandy, an influencer before influencers were even a thing, the laziest Officer that the Tenth Royal…
Pelican Stairs: A Hidden London Beach
Pelican Stairs is an alleyway in East London that leads to a hidden London beach. It runs alongside a historic pub, the…
Shad Thames
Former industrial hub and one-time home of David Hockney and Derek Jarman, Shad Thames is a distinct, hidden London dis…
Punch and Judy, Covent Garden
Punch and Judy, Covent Garden: a pub, a puppet show, the birthplace of an icon.
Brown Hart Gardens
Idle, disorderly and verminous persons beware: enter Brown Hart Gardens at your risk. And don't even think about practi…
Three Mills Island
A site of mills since Doomsday (the book, not the end of time), Three Mills Island is part of the oldest recorded examp…
Mayfield Lavender Farm
Mae Jemison once said, 'when God made the colour purple, God was just showing off'. If this is true, then whoever grew …
Burlington Arcade
Stunning 19th Century Arcade? Check. Luxury goods? Check. Private militia dolled up in Victorian frock coats? Check. If…