Thomas Cromwell’s Wolf Hall Tudor London Walking Tour

What's Included

Meeting and pickup

Itinerary

• 1
  Staple Inn

  This is one of the most prominent tudor facades in London. The original building from 1585 was once the wool staple, where wool was weighed and taxed. It survived the great fire of London, was refaced in the 17th century and restored in the 19th and 20th centuries. The hall was damaged by bombing in 1944.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 2
  Gray's Inn

  Thomas Cromwell was elected as a member of Gray's Inn which was and is a lawyers guild and would have been familiar with the paths, gardens and buildings of Gray's Inn.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 3

  Step inside the lovely Gray's Inn Chapel which though built for the members of the Inn is open to worship and respectful visitors.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 4
  The London Silver Vaults

  Home of specialist dealers in fine English silver, antiques and objets d'art, housed in underground vaults.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 5
  Lincoln's Inn

  Lincolns Inn is a beautiful and equally prestigious establishment as Greys Inn and on weekdays we might take a peek inside,

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 6
  Maughan Library

  Now a private library building for the prestigious Kings College, this was once a place where Thomas Cromwell had an office.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 7
  Temple

  We will pass through another famous and beautiful legal district in London, much used as filming locations and as settings in many great literary works.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• Temple Church (Pass by)

  See the beautiful Temple Church (from the outside) more recently famous for its role in the Da Vinci Code but with a history going back 800 years.

  Admission ticket free
• 8

  Once the location of a famed Tudor theatre.

  2 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 9

  From here the plans for the divorce of King Henry VIII and Queen Katherine of Aragon were hatched.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 10
  Blackfriars

  See what small ruins remain of Blackfriars, one of many abbeys and priors that were seized and closed down by King Henry VIII. Whitefriars is nearby too and we will visit that also.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 11
  St. Paul's Cathedral

  From a short distance away we will marvel at the beautiful symbol of the City of London, St Pauls Cathedral which arose from the ashes of the Great Fire and narrowly escaped destruction in The Blitz.

  2 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 12
  Golden Boy of Pye Corner

  Learn the story of the Golden Boy and the Great Fire of London.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 13
  WIlliam Wallace Memorial

  One of many memorials here. See where William 'Braveheart' Wallace met his end.

  2 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 14

  Remembering one of the greatest moments in medieval history, the Peasants Revolt.

  2 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 15
  St Bartholomew's Gatehouse

  See this wonderful old Tudor looking gatehouse and learn about its remarkable history.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 16

  Stand on the spot where Protestant bishops were burned to death at the stake by Queen Mary in Tudor times.

  2 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 17
  Christchurch Greyfriars Church Garden

  Thomas Cromwell had a more personal involvement with the dissolution of this once great old building than some others. Now left as a memorial garden having been bombed out in WW2.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 18

  This old street in the heart of the City of London is where Sir Thomas More was born who of course met an unfortunate end at Tower Hill.

  2 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 19

  Once an Augustin Friary, following its dissolution. The entire sprawling estate became the person domain of Thomas Cromwell (one of many) and his main residence in the City of London.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 20
  Drapers' Hall

  Now the gorgeous home of the esteemed Drapers Livery Company, this building is one of the few reminders of the home of Thomas Cromwell.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 21

  Once the church for the friars, it is a place that Thomas Cromwell would have known intimately and then as now a quiet refuge from the bustling financial centre of the City.

  10 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 22

  Now the largest parish church in the City of London, before the Reformation this was a Nunnery and sits atop suspected Roman or Saxon foundations.

  3 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 23

  This famous old road is now utterly transformed but we will pass through it. On the south side near the Walkie-Talkie building was once another home of Thomas Cromwell

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 24

  In Wolf Hall, King Henry VIII mentioned how upon meeting Anne of Cleves that he felt he might be marrying the Cornhill Maypole. Here it is next to the famed Cheesegrater building.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free
• 25
  St Olave's Church

  We will pass by this lovely and truly ancient church, a favourite of Charles Dickens and where the famous diarist, Samuel Pepys is buried. He lived across the road during the time of the Great Plague and Great Fire of London

  5 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 26
  Traitors' Gate

  We finish the tour outside the Tower of London at Traitors Gate, the infamous entry point to the Tower for those likely never to leave again.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket not included
• 27

  One of the most famous election spots in British history. See the memorial at the very spot where Thomas Cromwell, Thomas More and countless others were put to death in Tudor times and indeed other periods in history.

  5 minutes • Admission ticket free

Additional info

• Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
• Service animals allowed
• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

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