Short History: Dead Man's Hole

How many have went to the Tower Bridge in London? Have you visited the exhibits? Taken selfies?

Known there was an old Victorian Era mortuary under your feet? Not many? Well, now you do.

Commonly known as Dead Man's Hole, it is located underneath the northern side of the Tower Bridge right by the water. In Victorian times, bodies use to wash up in this alcove on almost a daily basis. Somewhere was needed to store these bodies until family identification, or more commonly, anonymous burial. Steps were even added to make retrieving the bodies easier.

Dead Man's Hole Steps - put in to make it easier to retrieve bodies. Image Credit: Londonist

If you visit, you'll notice this area is done up with tiles rather than stones or cobblestone. Why? Well, remains that are left out too long can explode and the tiles were easier to clean. 

Notice the tiles rather than stone or cobblestone. Image credit: Londonist

But, don't worry if you want to visit this sight. There are signs for it!

Image credit: Londonist

Reynolds, Laura. "How This Area Of London Ended Up Being Called Dead MAn's Hole." Londonist. May 19, 2017. https://londonist.com/london/history/how-this-area-of-london-ended-up-being-called-dead-man-s-hole