Witchcraft, Ancient Cults & MI15 Spy Secrets

London is easiest to understand when you stop looking only at palaces and famous museums. This private walking tour takes you into the city’s stranger corners, from a Roman temple beneath a modern office building to churches built over older pagan sites, medieval survivors, and execution grounds.

I like the way the tour focuses on lesser-known London instead of repeating the usual Westminster route. I also like the private format: your guide can give your group undivided attention and explain small details that are easy to miss on a standard walk.

The main consideration is the price, $371.59 per person, which is a serious outlay for roughly three hours. The route also promises witchcraft, ancient cults, and MI15 spy secrets, but the listed stops give the clearest detail about Roman religion, churches, legends, and executions. Ask for more information about the spy material before booking if that theme is your main reason for going.

Key points at a glance

• Roman London beneath Bloomberg Place: See the setting of the London Mithraeum, a subterranean temple linked to the mysterious cult of Mithras.
• A private guide for your group: This is not a shared walk, so you can ask questions and keep the pace suited to your party.
• Five compact stops: The route covers the Mithraeum, two churches, Cornhill House, and Smithfield Market.
• A darker side of the city: Expect stories about pagan worship, devils, ghosts, astrologers, Bloody Mary, and public executions.
• A three-hour walk through central London: Start at Bleeding Heart Yard at noon and finish beside Monument Station.
• Best for repeat London visitors: The tour makes more sense after you have seen the major sights and want a stranger, less familiar angle on the city.

Why this London walk feels different

Many London tours move from one grand building to another. This one works differently. It asks you to look down, behind, and beneath the modern city. Office blocks, Underground entrances, churches, and market streets become clues to earlier London.

The route reaches back to at least the 4th century and moves through Roman religion, medieval Christianity, old legends, and grim episodes of English history. You are not simply looking at buildings. You are being shown how one sacred or public site could be reused across centuries.

That makes the private format especially useful. Your guide can pause at a small carving, explain a local story, or adjust the emphasis toward Roman cults, witchcraft, ghosts, or executions. The tour is built around conversation rather than a large group trying to keep up.

The schedule begins at noon and lasts about three hours. That is long enough for a substantial walk without taking up an entire day. Still, the listed stops each have only about ten minutes assigned to them, so the experience depends heavily on the guide’s storytelling during the walking sections.

The London Mithraeum and the Roman cult of Mithras

The London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE is the strongest stop on the route. This area has been at the center of London for roughly two thousand years, and the modern Bloomberg building includes the remains of a Roman temple.

The Mithraeum was connected to the cult of Mithras, which first appeared in Rome during the first century AD and spread across the Roman Empire over the next three centuries. Its followers included merchants, soldiers, and imperial administrators. That detail gives the site a useful social context. This was not just a private religious curiosity. It was tied to people who moved goods, served the empire, and helped run Roman life.

The temple design also helps explain the appeal of the cult. Mithraic temples were often built below ground. They were private, dark, and windowless, creating a very different setting from the open civic temples you may associate with the ancient world.

At the center of the cult was the tauroctony, the scene of Mithras killing a bull in a cave. Its meaning remains open to interpretation. That uncertainty is part of the attraction, but it also means your guide should help separate known facts from later guesses.

Admission to the Mithraeum is not included, so check the current entry arrangements before you go. The tour includes the stop, but the site ticket is listed separately. If the Roman period is your main interest, this is the place where you will want to listen closely and allow enough time for the guide’s explanation.

St. Mary Woolnoth and two thousand years of worship

At St. Mary Woolnoth, the story moves from Roman religion to a Christian church built on a much older sacred site. Worship has taken place here for at least two thousand years, and traces of Roman and pagan religious buildings have been found beneath the present church.

That layered past is exactly what makes this stop worthwhile. The visible church is only one chapter. Under its foundations are signs that people used this ground for religious purposes long before the present building existed.

The visit is brief, listed at about ten minutes, and admission is free. You may find the stop most rewarding if you enjoy historical clues rather than grand interiors. The value is in understanding how religious places can survive by changing form and belief over time.

This is also a useful point for thinking about the tour’s larger theme. London was not repeatedly rebuilt on empty ground. New buildings, churches, streets, and offices often sit directly over older structures. Your guide’s job is to connect those layers without losing you in dates.

Cornhill House and the three devilish figures

Cornhill House offers one of the route’s oddest sights: three devilish terracotta figures. They are linked to a long-running act of architectural revenge and were intended to mock worshippers at St. Peter upon Cornhill, an old city church now almost swallowed by surrounding office buildings.

This is a small detail, but small details are where a walking tour can earn its keep. You may pass the figures without knowing why they are there. With the story attached, the building becomes part of a dispute between neighbors, beliefs, and institutions.

The stop is about ten minutes, and admission is not included. Since the attraction is viewed from the city streets rather than presented as a full museum visit, the guide’s explanation matters more than the length of the stop.

I would not book this tour expecting every point to be a major monument. Some stops are compact and visual. Their appeal comes from the story, and the private format gives you a better chance to ask what is known, what is legend, and what may have been embellished over time.

St. Bartholomew the Great and the Great Fire

St. Bartholomew the Great is one of the few medieval churches in London to survive the Great Fire of 1666. That fact alone gives it a useful place in the tour. The surrounding city changed dramatically, yet this church remained.

The stop is free and lasts about ten minutes. It is not presented as a long interior visit, so you should think of it as part of the wider route rather than a separate church tour.

The church helps balance the darker legends with a clear piece of London’s physical history. Fires, rebuilding, and changing streets can make the city feel modern, but surviving medieval buildings show how much older London remains beneath its present appearance.

If you have already visited the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, this stop offers a different scale. You are looking at a building that survived catastrophe without needing the crowds and ceremony associated with London’s biggest landmarks.

Smithfield Market and the city’s execution grounds

Smithfield Market brings the route into a harsher chapter. Here you learn about places of execution and a story connected with Bloody Mary.

The stop is listed as included and lasts about ten minutes. That may sound short for such a grim subject, but the market area gives the guide a clear setting for discussing punishment, public spectacle, and the way London used open urban spaces.

This portion will suit you if you prefer history with rough edges. It is not a polished royal story. Executions reveal how power worked in public and how fear could be turned into a warning for everyone watching.

The Bloody Mary reference is intriguing but broad. Since the supplied tour details do not explain the exact story, ask your guide to clarify which event or tradition is being discussed. That small question can help you get more from the stop and avoid confusing separate stories from Tudor London.

Witchcraft, ghosts, astrologers, and spy secrets

The tour title reaches beyond the named stops, promising witchcraft, ancient cults, ghosts, astrologers, and MI15 spy secrets. Those themes fit the route’s interest in hidden beliefs and overlooked corners, but the detailed stop descriptions focus most clearly on Roman worship, pagan foundations, church history, architectural mockery, and executions.

That distinction matters when you choose. If you want a firmly outlined spy-history tour, the available information does not identify a specific MI15 location or spy episode. If you enjoy a broad mix of legend and urban history, the title’s darker subjects may add flavor to the walk.

I would treat the witchcraft and ghost material as storytelling themes rather than a formal study of occult history. The tour appears designed to connect unusual places with the tales attached to them. Your guide’s ability to explain the evidence behind each story will shape how satisfying this part feels.

The private setting gives you the best chance to steer the conversation. You can ask for more Roman detail, more church history, or more of the city’s supernatural traditions. That flexibility is harder to get on a large scheduled walk.

The price and the private-tour question

At $371.59 per person, this tour is expensive for three hours. The cost makes the most sense for a group that values privacy and wants a guide focused only on them. It is less compelling if you are happy with a large group, a self-guided walk, or a standard city-history tour.

The price may also feel different depending on your group size. Since this is a private activity, the cost buys exclusivity as well as information. A family or small party can ask questions freely, move at its own rhythm, and spend more time on the subjects that hold its attention.

Group discounts are available, though the exact terms are not provided. Check how the discount applies before booking. The tour also accepts mobile tickets, which is useful when you are moving between several central London locations.

A professional guide is included. Entry to the London Mithraeum is not included, while St. Mary Woolnoth, St. Bartholomew the Great, and Smithfield Market are listed as free or included stops. Cornhill House is not an admission-based visit, but its entry status is also listed as not included.

Route, timing, and practical comfort

The walk begins at Bleeding Heart Yard in London EC1N at noon. It ends beside Monument Station on King William Street, London EC4R 9AA. Ending at a major Underground station is handy because you can continue sightseeing or return to your accommodation without arranging a separate pickup.

The route is taken on foot, with several short stops. Wear comfortable shoes and bring water, since the experience lasts about three hours and includes walking between locations. The provided information does not give a detailed accessibility assessment, so contact the provider if you need specific guidance about surfaces, seating, or interior access.

Confirmation arrives at booking. Service animals are allowed, and the activity is near public transportation. Most people can participate, but the tour is still a walking experience, so consider your group’s comfort with standing and moving through central London.

The tour requires a minimum number of participants. If that minimum is not met, you will be offered another date or experience, or receive a full refund. You can cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before the start time. Changes or cancellations made inside that window are not accepted.

Who will get the most from this tour

I would recommend it most strongly to repeat visitors who have already covered London’s headline sights. The tour gives you a reason to return to the City of London with a sharper eye for foundations, carvings, old religious sites, and public spaces.

It also suits people who like history that is slightly strange. Roman cults, devil figures, pagan remains, medieval survival, public executions, and ghost stories make this a better match for curious wanderers than for anyone seeking a standard overview of London.

Families may enjoy the unusual stories, though the subject of executions can be dark for younger children. The private format lets you decide how much detail to pursue.

First-time visitors can enjoy it too, but I would not make it your only London tour. It does not cover the city’s main royal and political sights in a traditional way. Pair it with a broader introduction to London if you want both the famous landmarks and the city’s more obscure corners.

Should you book Witchcraft, Ancient Cults and MI15 Spy Secrets?

Book this tour if you want a private, story-led walk through London’s older and stranger layers. The London Mithraeum is the strongest anchor, and the combination of Roman religion, pagan foundations, medieval survival, devilish carvings, and Smithfield executions gives the route a clear personality.

Think carefully about the cost. At $371.59 per person, it needs to deliver more than a list of stops. Its value depends on your guide’s ability to connect the sites, answer questions, and tailor the experience to your group.

I would also confirm how much time is devoted to MI15, witchcraft, and spy history before paying. If those subjects are clearly covered in the way you hope, the private format could make this a memorable afternoon. If your priority is famous London architecture or a low-cost introduction, choose a different walk and save this one for a return visit.

FAQ

How long does the tour last?

The tour lasts approximately three hours.

Where does the tour begin?

It begins at Bleeding Heart Yard, London EC1N, UK.

What time does the tour start?

The scheduled start time is 12:00 pm.

Where does the tour end?

It ends beside Monument Station on King William Street, London EC4R 9AA.

Is this a private tour?

Yes. Only your group participates in the private activity.

Is a guide included?

Yes. A professional guide is included.

Is admission to the London Mithraeum included?

No. Admission to the London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE is not included.

Is the tour available by mobile ticket?

Yes. Mobile tickets are available.

Are service animals allowed?

Yes. Service animals are allowed.

Can I cancel for a full refund?

Yes. You can cancel at least 24 hours before the experience start time for a full refund.

Is the tour accessible by public transportation?

Yes. The experience is near public transportation, and it ends next to Monument Station.