Wow What A Big Chopper ! (London Dungeon)

Member Name: WormThatTurned

Product:	London Dungeon
Date:	23/02/04 (1078 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Educational, Interesting, Historical

Disadvantages: Expensive, Vey Busy, Not suitable for young children

The London Dungeon was first opened in 1975, located on the south bank of the River Thames. From the outside with the burning pyres hanging from the walls and the dark, dank signage, you can only imagine what horrors lie beneath the streets. Late last year I boldly ventured inside to experience what the Dungeons had to offer, was my venture bold or maybe folly ?

~How to get there~

28/34 Tooley Street,
London,
SE1.

Tooley Street is situated in Southwark which is on the south side of the River Thames, the nearest underground and railway station is London Bridge station which is right next door so you can't miss it. Like I said in my prelude, the attraction is very distinctive from the outside, the signage is black with writing designed to look like blood and fires burn boldly from oil lamps which hang onto the walls outside. The attraction is well served by tourist buses which has a getting off spot nearby so you can split your visit with further visitations to other parts of the city.

~Admission prices and opening times~

Adult 12.95
Child 6.95

Concessions available for groups, OAP's and students. You can also receive a concession if you book in advance either by the ticket office or over the net. There is an extra advantage in booking in advance as you can walk straight into the attraction without having to queue (seperate entrance for ticket holders !). This attraction is disabled friendly.

Open 10:30 am - 18:00 pm (exc Christmas Day)

In the summer this attraction doesn't close until later on weekdays (21:00), it is advisable to find out prior to your visit what the closing time is as it does vary depending on what time of year it is, it would also help as they only allow entry up until an hour before closing i.e, a 5 o clock closing time would mean that you will have had to entered the attraction by 4 o clock.

~A tour of the dungeons~

The first thin
g that happens upon entry into the dungeons is a photo opportunity, we were ushered into a grisly looking room adorned with gruesome sights and I was held over a chopping block while my partner held a big axe above my head, luckily she didn't grasp the opportunity. After that we walked through an area dimly lit designed to look like London in Victorian times, waxwork effigies depicted various hideous sights such as murder victims, diseased corpses and torture. Actors employed by the dungeons jumped out of the shadows to heighten the overall feeling of creepiness, just around the corner were effigies of famous killers and the details of their terrible deeds although the cackling Anne Robinson effigy nearly wiped out my feeling of dread in one foul swoop!

The next section of the tour of the dungeons concentrates on the black plague and the horrible effects it had on the City of London, it wiped out thousands upon thousands of Londoners and at it's height an endless stream of carts were dumping diseased bodies into huge mass graves, the most famous now being Blackheath where even today building is prohibited in fear of what they might dig up. The actors employed described in graphic detail how the disease took hold and eventually killed it's victims.

After the Black Death experience came medieval times when amongst other evils came witchcraft and treason. There were hundreds of amazingly daft laws which were considered normal at the time which resulted in you being accused of treason or witchcraft, at about this time upwards of 400,000 people a year were being executed most of which were probably unjust. In this section a mock seventeenth century court complete with hanging judge sentenced all the visitors to death where they are shipped off into an execution dock !

The execution dock or River of death as it is called is basically a ride where you see vividly the different ways of execution such as being boiled alive, disembowelm
ent, flogging, being burned at the stake etc. During the ride there is another photo opportunity. This ride ends at traitors gate complete with heads stuck on top of the railings. Continue through traitors gate and we came to the next stage of the dungeons.

Jack The Ripper is perhaps the most notorious killer of all during London's long history, maybe because of all the conspiracy theories involved in the case. The Jack The Ripper section goes in depth into the murder scenes, how the victime were murdered and the witnesses involved, 6 prostitutes died in the hands of Jack the Ripper and he was never found. A video which goes over all the conspiracy theories including possible names of the murderer complete this section.

The last part of the tour focuses on the great fire of London, where it started, how it spread and how it completely ravaged the whole City.

~Other details~

The end of the tour of the dungeons leads into an area where there is a dungeon bar and a gift shop, this area is adjacent to where we entered the dungeons. The bar and the gift shop were very expensive verging on rip-off and I didn't purchase anything because of this, also here was a gaming area and where you can pay and pick up your photos that you had taken during the tour. You can view your picture before you decide to pay which is handy and I recommend the beheading pictures which offer the best souvenir on offer.

~My overall impression~

I was slightly disappointed with my trip to the dungeons even though I enjoyed certain parts of the trip. I liked the interesting historical facts and the educational value the attraction had to offer but I thought that the dungeons lacked in value, suffered heavily from over-attendance and is slightly misleading in it's naming. I expected a dungeon at some stage but basically London dungeons is a tour of the terrible events which have taken place during London's past. I would heavily rec
ommend purchasing your tickets in advance to avoid a half hour queue outside but even this will not stop the queuing involved inside, expect to wait at certain parts of the tour (where one section ends and another starts) and allow youselves a two and a half hour time bracket for your whole visit. I would also not recommend the trip to either young children or people of a nervous disposition. Sights and desciptions take the words graphic and vivid onto the borders of extreme and this could be too much for many to stomach. Because of it's popularity and the huge number of tourist visiting London, the dungeons are heavily commercialised and over-priced which is unfortunate and although I enjoyed it to a point I probably wouldn't go back.


Thanks for the read, very much appreciated.

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WormThatTurned2004

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