Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley in Somers Town
Euston Underground Station (meet at the exit from Euston Underground by the top of the escalator)
Guided by Charlie
Walk Times
| Day | Walk Type | Start Time | End Time | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 March 2025 | Tour du Jour | 10.45 am | 4.30 pm | Winter | Reserve Online |
Short read: Victor Frankenstein, what have you wrought? And Mary Shelley, what have you wrought? That unorthodox scientific experiment, the hideous sapient creature it brought forth… For over 200 years now it’s stalked us, haunted our dreams… And to think, this little known London neighbourhood was the petri dish that…
Long read: Mary Wollstonecraft, the great early feminist, lived in Somers Town. And died there – died shaking with a fever soon after her daughter was born. That daughter was the great early novelist, Mary Shelley. This walk explores the Somers Town they knew – a place of poverty and political exiles and refugees and revolutionaries. We’ll see where she lived, a home Wollstonecraft set up on radical principles with the anarchist William Godwin in the Polygon, itself a radical housing scheme. We’ll visit the secret graveside spot where that philanderer Percy Bysshe Shelley used to wait for his 16-year-old lover Mary. Two centuries after Frankenstein’s monster first appeared we’ll track down – and get the measure of – some of the influences which shaped that most enduring and compelling of characters from English literature.
MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT & MARY SHELLEY IN SOMERS TOWN – THE PRACTICALS
To go on the Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley in Somers Town walk meet Charlie in the ticket hall of Euston Underground Station.
MEET YOUR LONDON WALKS GUIDE
Here’s a podcast in which Charlie tells us a bit about himself, his career, his guiding, his London.
LONDON WALKS REVIEWS
“award-winning London Walks are unrivalled for quality and range” American in Britain Magazine
“the best London has to offer” Culture Trip
“by far the most impressive series of walks that I have ever encountered are those offered by London Walks” Travel and Enjoy
LONDON WALKS PRIVATE WALKS
If you can’t make one of the regularly scheduled, just-turn-up, public Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley in Somers Town walks do think about booking one as a private tour. If you go private you can have the Mary Wollstonecraft & Mary Shelley in Somers Town – or any other London Walk – on a day and at a time that suits your convenience. We’ll tailor it to your requirements. Ring Fiona or Niamh or Peter or Mary on 020 7624 3978 or email us at [email protected] and we’ll set it up and make it happen for you. A private London Walk – they’re good value for an individual or couple and sensational value for a group – makes an ideal group or educational or birthday party or office (team-building) or club outing.
GIVE THE GIFT OF LONDON WALKS
A private London Walk makes a wonderful and unusual gift – be it a birthday or anniversary or Christmas present or whatever. Merchandise schmerchandise (gift wrapped or not) – but giving someone an experience, now that’s special. Memories make us rich.
Janyce Welch –
What a wonderful and intensely informative walk on the two Mary’s. Delivered beautifully by Charlie , I felt I was transported back in time 👏👏👏
Peter Dargue –
I enjoyed this walk far more than I thought I would, the area behind Euston Rd was unknown territory for me and it proved to harbour a more diverse and interesting history than I imagined. Charlie has obviously researched the lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Mary Shelley in depth and it shows, he knows his stuff and delivers his knowledge in a friendly and enthusiastic manner. Glad I did this, I learned a lot.
Francesca –
Charlie was amazing… He succeded in letting us enter that world, with those characters and particular atmosphere. London Walks are a fantastic experience to learn about London and its history and culture. This walk was amazing!!!!! Thank you Charlie
John Snelling –
Charlie was knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He had a very good sense of what people coming on his walk would want to hear about. He put what he was telling us in its social and political context very well. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary Shelley, William Godwin and their circle.
Christopher –
Charlie was terrific — he offered a wonderful, historically detailed tour with loads of important context and incisive insights. It was perfect for our group of university students who’d studied Shelley and Frankenstein in some detail but were ready for a richer sense of Shelley’s life, her parents, and her London childhood. Thank you, Charlie!
Sam A –
I had read a biography of Mary Shelley and this tour combined the past and the present, adding context to my understanding. Much of the past from Shelley’s life has been built over and disappeared but it was interesting to imagine the past in the current housing estate. A highlight of the tour was visiting a magnificent but hidden-away community mural which references in imagery, Mary and Percy Shelley and Frankenstein.