From Karl Marx’s drunken adventures to a haunted pub theater and a corpse-snatching room known as The Autopsy Room, this episode is full of strange histories, legendary characters, and classic London pub charm. You’ll laugh, wince, and maybe even check over your shoulder as we dig into Highgate’s boozy past.
On this episode of The Historic London Pubcast, we leave Hampstead behind and dive headfirst into Highgate’s historic past.
We kick things off with a stroll past Highgate Cemetery, tipping our hats to residents like George Eliot and Karl Marx—before diving into the wild tale of Marx’s 1850s pub crawl, which ended in a smashed gaslight, a police chase, and one very memorable night.
From there, we head into The Flask pub in Highgate, where whispers of illegal autopsies In The Autopsy Room with bodies reportedly sourced from nearby Highgate Cemetery by 18th- and 19th-century "resurrectionists" (body snatchers). We also touch on reported hauntings at The Flask.
Just up the road, The Gatehouse brings history to life with tollgate tales, a split-parish courtroom, and some serious pub ghost stories.
And we couldn’t finish the crawl without a pint at The Wrestlers, home of the infamous and farcical tradition known as Swearing on the Horns. Whether you're a fan of Victorian London, body snatchers, or just love a good old London pub crawl, this is the episode for you.
Perfect for fans of London history podcasts, London travel guides, or anyone plotting their next London pub tour, this episode supplies plenty of London travel tips sure to make your next London pub crawl one of the most unusual London pub walks you’ll go on. All in all, one unforgettable walk through historic London.
Show Map
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References
Marx Pub Crawl
https://libcom.org/article/marx-piss-london-pub-crawl-karl-marx-late-1850s-wilhelm-liebknecht
Highgate Pubs
https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/lifestyle/21382780.drink-fill-rich-fascinating-history-highgates-pubs/
https://hornseyhistorical.org.uk/brief-history-highgate/
The Flask
https://www.peculiarlondon.com/blog/the-flask-highgate
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol17/pt1/pp111-113
https://whatpub.com/pubs/NLD/5635/flask-london#google_vignette
The Gatehouse
https://hidden-highgate.org/ye-olde-gatehouse/
https://londonist.com/london/pubs/the-gatehouse
https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/
Website: https://historiclondonpubcast.com
E-mail: hosteric@historiclondonpubcast.com
