5 hidden facts you may not have discovered in London

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December 29, 2017 9:04 AM

Almost everyone who visits London makes a stop at the Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and a host of others.

However, there are so many hidden gems and facts that very few know about and care to visit. When next you are in London, be sure to look up these places.

1. The Scotch Eggs Inventors – The London department store Fortnum & Mason claims to have invented Scotch eggs in 1738. So the Scotch egg isn’t Scottish after all! The store can be found on 181 Piccadilly, St. James's, London W1A 1ER, UK.

2. The London’s Underground Mail Train – The ride mail rail service has promised an experience of a life time. You can now journey back in time on their specially made train through the original tunnels and station platforms under Mount Pleasant. It is open every day from 10 AM with the last train departing at 4.30 PM.

3. Have Coffee In A Graveyard – Not everyone would wander into a graveyard but you sure can feel like you’re sitting on top of the dead if you go for a cup of coffee at Watch House Coffee Shop.

You could be lucky to be sitting in the historic room where Victorian police used to spy on possible grave robbers. The coffee shop is perched on Bermondsey Street, and sits on a historic, affluent, graveyard that once was the go-to place for grave robbers. Who knows? You too might catch a grave robber!

4. Benjamin Franklin’s House – The Benjamin Franklin House has now been turned into a museum. The house is a terraced Georgian house at 36 Craven Street, London, close to Trafalgar Square. It is the only surviving former residence of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. What a way to be connected to the United States whilst in the United Kingdoms!

5. The Berlin Wall Is In London – Around 15-minutes’ walk from the London Eye is the Imperial War Museum of London. Free to enter, this museum has sections of the original Berlin Wall outside (in the gardens).

A stark piece of history that anyone can visit. The section of the wall was acquired by the Imperial War Museum in 1991, two years after the wall fell. There's a second fragment of the Berlin Wall near the bronze Ronal Reagan statue outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square in Mayfair.

There are also sections of the Berlin War in the collections at the National Army Museum. A third segment stands near the sports hall at The German School London in Petersham, Richmond.

Article by Titi Dokubo

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