Southwark Pub History & Heritage Walking Tour

The location of Southwark, nestled alongside the River Thames, boats 2,000 years of living liquid history, and that includes the booze!

Come and explore Southwark’s vibrant pub culture and visit some of London’s oldest taverns while learning about its sometimes bloody past and rich social history.

On your private pub history tour, we shall visit:

• At least two pubs for drinks (others are optional)—London's oldest riverside tavern with a unique asset for tourists, and London’s last surviving galleried Inn.
• The site of an old brewery to learn about the distillery process with many amusing anecdotes.

• London’s last Ferryman’s Seat, and you can try it for size.
• A world famous market, also noted for its pubs and movie site locations.
• An historical building, famous for storing the hops transported from the so-called ‘Garden of England’.

Engage with some great storytelling from your host:

• Compelling stories about (at least) two pubs we visit, plus the many pubs we pass by on this journey.
• Tales of drunkards and doctors, and how they once overlapped.
• How the beer in times past was much safer to drink than the water.

• Learn about two of the most feared prisons in historic London, plus the Borough Compter punishment cell.
• Account of the Great Fire of Southwark.
• How pubs got their names, pub architecture and pub signs.

Make yourselves at home in some of these traditional watering holes, and sample a variety of authentic British ales, stouts, ciders or even wine (underage drinkers can enjoy a variety of soft drinks).