Oh, pleased to see you! Come in, come in! My name is Professor Horatio Pendulum. Keeper of the Timeaporium Clock Shop – repairer of ancient timepieces, collector of impossible objects… and, regrettably, the person responsible for what may soon become the greatest disaster in London history. There’s no easy way to put this. I may have accidentally caused a rift in space time!
You see, hidden beneath the Timeaporium, I’ve built a machine known as the Chronosphere – a magnificent invention designed to peer safely into history itself. But I overloaded it and it’s created some time fragments across London. History is leaking. Past and present are becoming tangled together like knotted clock springs. Objects, people and places from different centuries have scattered themselves across the city.
I need some help to restore everything to its rightful place in time. Can you help, and become a Time Hunter? Help locate the lost time fragments that have been thrown into famous landmarks, ancient ruins, forgotten corners and curious monuments.
All you need to do is follow the riddles found by the Chronosphere to track down the time fragments and put things right.
A Bridge to the Barbican is a free, self-guided Time Hunters walk that begins at Holborn Viaduct — the world’s first flyover — and winds through the old streets of Smithfield, past London’s oldest hospital and its 800-year-old meat market, before climbing into the concrete canyons of the Barbican and finishing at St Giles Cripplegate. Ten stops, a fold-up treasure map, a pocketful of riddles and missions — and nearly 1,000 years of history to hunt down along the way.
How the hunt works
Print the map. Each trail is a single sheet of A3 that folds down to pocket size — a fractured map of the City on one side, and an activity handbook on the other with a card for every stop.
Listen to the podcast. Every stop has a riddle, read aloud in the Time Hunters podcast, that points you to the next place on the trail.
Hunt down all 10 stops. There is no route drawn on the map — on purpose. The best ways through the City go down tiny alleys and courtyards, and we didn’t want to give them away. Follow the numbers and explore.
Solve the missions. Each stop sets a mission — a plaque to find, a carving to count, a detail to spot. Grown-ups get a printable answer key to check them.
The map is torn into coloured shards, one for each era: Medieval, Tudor, Great Fire, Georgian, Victorian and Modern. Cross from one colour to another and you’ve time-travelled.
The 10 stops on the Trail
From Holborn Viaduct to St Giles Cripplegate. Allow about 2–2½ hours with the podcast and the puzzles.
1. Holborn Viaduct
Farringdon Street · Victorian era, 1837
The world’s first flyover — a Victorian iron bridge built to carry the road over the Fleet valley.
Did you know? Its four bronze ladies stand for Commerce, Agriculture, Science and Fine Art.
Your mission: On Farringdon Street, find the stone laid by Henry Fry. Note the date.
And for a Chrono bonus point, count the bridge’s winged lions — then draw one.
2. The Watch House
Giltspur Street · Georgian era, 1714
A little hut where a watchman once guarded the graveyard against body-snatchers.
Did you know? The ‘resurrection men’ dug up fresh corpses and sold them to anatomy schools.
Your mission: Find the plaque and its three years: built, destroyed, and rebuilt.
And for a Chrono bonus point, spot St Sepulchre’s church opposite — the City’s largest.
3. The Golden Boy of Pye Corner
Giltspur Street · Great Fire era, 1666
A plump golden statue marking the spot where the Great Fire of 1666 finally burnt itself out.
Did you know? People blamed the Fire on gluttony, so the boy was carved deliberately fat as a warning.
Your mission: Under the boy, find the pub’s name and the year it was pulled down.
And for a Chrono bonus point, copy the Golden Boy’s pose for a photo.
4. Henry VIII Gate
St Bartholomew’s Hospital · Tudor era, 1485
The only outdoor statue of Henry VIII in London, over the gate to Britain’s oldest hospital.
Did you know? St Bartholomew’s has healed the sick on this very spot since 1123 — over 900 years.
Your mission: Go through the gate and find the plaque with the year it was built.
And for a Chrono bonus point, strike a mighty pose like King Henry VIII.
5. St Bartholomew’s Gatehouse
West Smithfield · Medieval era, 1066
A Tudor timber gatehouse hidden for centuries behind a brick front, revealed by a wartime blast.
Did you know? A First World War bomb shook off the tiles and exposed its ancient oak beams.
Your mission: Inside the gatehouse, find the plaque and the year it was restored.
And for a Chrono bonus point, spot the crooked timbers — not one is straight.
6. St Bartholomew the Great
Cloth Fair · Medieval era, 1066
London’s oldest parish church — its great Norman arches have stood since 1123.
Did you know? It has starred in films from Four Weddings and a Funeral to Shakespeare in Love.
Your mission: Outside the door look up: a date is carved, two numbers each side.
And for a Chrono bonus point, find Cloth Fair’s crooked old house — it survived the Great Fire.
7. Smithfield Market
3 St John Street · Victorian era, 1837
London’s meat market for 800 years — once a field of jousts, fairs and public executions.
Did you know? Rebels, knights and Protestant martyrs were burned or beheaded on Smithfield’s open ground.
Your mission: Look up for the carved stone boar, a name and a date.
And for a Chrono bonus point, spot the market’s colourful iron dragons and griffins.
8. Charterhouse Square
Charterhouse Square · Medieval era, 1066
A quiet square hiding a plague pit — thousands of Black Death victims were buried here in 1348.
Did you know? The Charterhouse has been a monastery, a Tudor mansion, a school and now an almshouse.
Your mission: By the old gateway, find the Master’s Lodge and note its number.
And for a Chrono bonus point, in the chapel, find a name a schoolboy carved into the pews.
9. Lakeside Terrace
Barbican Centre · Modern era, 1986
A concrete city-in-the-sky raised on WW2 bombsites — home to Europe’s largest arts centre.
Did you know? The Barbican hides a lake, a tropical conservatory, and three towers 42 storeys high.
Your mission: By the walkway over the water, find the stone the Queen laid. What day?
And for a Chrono bonus point, follow the yellow line on the floor around the estate.
10. St Giles Cripplegate
Fore Street · Medieval era, 1066
A medieval church stranded in the Barbican — it survived the Great Fire but not the Blitz.
Did you know? The poet John Milton, who wrote Paradise Lost, lies buried inside.
Your mission: Find the glass showing when Elizabeth Bourchier married Cromwell.
And for a Chrono bonus point, find the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside.
Ready to start hunting?
Print your Handbook and Trail map, load up the podcast, and explore the City of London for yourself.
Grown-ups: download the printable answer key (PDF).
Time Hunters is created by Inspiring Audio with support from the Eastern City BID.
