London Journals

Historic Places in London

A travel journal to London by Sonia3

Quote: This journal is for historic places in London.

Clink Prison Museum

Attraction | "The Prison that gave it's Name to all Others."

Quote:

Feeling a little bit home sick for a place that is no longer my home (London) I decided to take a day trip. I planned the trip well in advance so there is really no excuse for the fact that I arrived there with nothing planned to do for the day. I met my best friend at London Bridge Station armed with a booklet of 2 for 1 offers. Over lunch we ruled out just about every possibility. The problem is that we're very different and although we have a few interests in common it is usually very difficult to find something that we both want to do (with the exception of eating, we both enjoy that!). We decided to visit the Clink Prison Museum because it was close by and it was cheap. After half an hour of searching for it we gave up. My time in London was too short to be looking for a museum that neither of us were particularly interested in. A couple of hours later, after a lot of walking and a boring (in my opinion, not hers) visit to Tate Modern we were looking for a pub to have a drink in before I got the train home when right in front of us was the Clink Museum. Fate clearly wanted us to visit it and I am not one to argue with Fate.

-Getting There-
I really couldn't tell you how to get there. We found it purely by chance and I really wouldn't know how to get back there. It was easy enough to find the train station afterwards but finding a small prison museum on a backstreet (or what seemed like backstreet anyway) is a lot more difficult than finding a well signposted station.
London Bridge is the nearest tube and train station and if you plan your visit in advance you can print off a map so you shouldn't have any trouble finding it. It is within easy walking disance.

-The Museum-
The Clink Prison Museum is a museum on the site of an old prison. It was a functional prison from the 12th century until 1780 when it was burnt down by rioters. Throughout its history the Clink was used for many different kinds of criminals, prostitutes, pimps, catholic's and debtors. The museum is now a couple of rooms with wax models of prisoners, torture devices and information about law and punishment throughout London's history.

-My Experience-
I enjoyed visiting the Clink Prison Museum, it took us less than an hour to get around it but it was a very interesting hour. I think if I had paid the full £5 admission fee I would have felt a bit cheated but for £2.50 it is really worth visiting this museum.

I was a little bit disappointed that it wasn't actually a prison. There are a few attempts at reconstructing the prison setting but for the most part it's just a couple of rooms with wax works and torture devices in them. The first room you walk into contains wax works of prisoners and it is really really creepy. It was so creepy that my friend and I had to stay together as we walked around it (this was after she jumped out at me, made me scream and nearly gave me a heart attack, it seemed best to keep her where I could see her). The atmosphere in this museum is great and is probably one of its strengths,it seems so effortless. It's not like the London Dungeon where there are actors trying to scare you. I guess it's perhaps because there was actually a prison on that site and people really did suffer there, maybe some of the energy has been left over. Or maybe it is just that the wax works are really creepy and even though there are other people around you feel really isolated because you can't see them.

There is so much information in this museum and that's something that I really appreciate. I am a bit disappointed that you don't really get to know a history of the prison from walking around it. I bought a Short History of the Clink Prison for £2 and would recommend that anyone visiting buys it because it is only in here that you will get a proper, full history of the Clink. The information provided in the museum gives you some background on the prison and some background on law and punishment. All of the information was really interesting and I learnt a lot of things that I didn't know before. The quality of this information is questionable though. Throughout there are grammatical mistakes that people have corrected with pencil which looked really unprofessional and there was even a date that had to be corrected. This doesn't inspire confidence that the information that you've read is accurate! I also found that it was repetitive, this wasn't such a big deal because even when you take out the information that had been repeated there was still a lot there.

-Conclusion-
For £2.50 this museum is worth visiting. It's an interesting way to fill some time, perhaps between seeing other attractions or when you have an hour to spare. I really wouldn't pay any more for it because there is so little to see. What is there is intersting and they fit a lot of information into a small museum. If I had paid the full price I would be rating this 3/5 but as I didn't pay much to get in I'm giving this 4/5 stars. Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on June 28, 2011

Clink Prison Museum
1 Clink Street
London, England

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The Monument

Attraction | "Monument"

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In 1666 London burnt down. When London was rebuilt it was decided that, although people were starving and homeless after losing their houses and most of their belongings, a monument would be built in memorial of the fire. Centuries later that monument is still standing, although if you are planning to visit The Monument you will be pleased to know that there has been a lot of maintenance work done on it. I had no interest in Monument at all. I was aware that it existed, I knew why it had been built but it just didn't interest me at all. However, when I found myself in the City with a couple of friends and one of them suggested that we go to the Monument I couldn't think of any reason why w...Read More

Member Rating 2 out of 5 on June 23, 2009

The Monument
Monument Street (tube Monument)
London, England EC3R 8AH
(020) 7626-2717

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Tower of London

Attraction | "Execution and Excitement!"

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I have been planning to visit the Tower of London for years and until this weekend never got around to it, so for me there was a lot of expectation and I was not disappointed. -Ticket Prices- Adults- £16.50 Children-£9.50 Family tickets and concessions are available and you can get discount if you book online. -The Tour- The tour is included in the ticket price and is definitely worth joining. The tours start every half hour and last around an hour. For me this was the highlight of an excellent day. The tour is given by a Yeoman Warder, who is actually a member of the military and before getting the job they have to have completed a certain amount ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on June 23, 2009

Tower of London
Tower Hill
London, England EC3N 4AB
+44 (207) 709 0765

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Buckingham Palace

Attraction | "I Went to London to Visit the Queen"

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This is a review of the state rooms at Buckingham Palace. -Arrival and Admission- When we arrived at the palace we soon discovered that commoners such as ourselves were not admitted through the front of the palace so we followed the signs to the side of the palace. The signposting was quite good and we found the entrance without any problem. In order to get access to the palace you have to queue up to buy tickets, then go back out of that tent and into another to wait to be admitted. This seemed like a lot of hassle but I'm sure they had their reasons (even if they weren't evident to us). Buying the ticket was easy enough but I was not impressed by the woman who sol...Read More