The only surviving residence of Benjamin Franklin, who lived here for nearly 16 years as colonial agent. He conducted scientific experiments, engaged in political negotiations, and was ultimately questioned before the Privy Council over the Hutchinson letters affair.
Begin at Franklin's surviving London home on Craven Street, where he lived for sixteen years. Stand in the rooms where he charmed, schemed, and was ultimately driven toward revolution. Walk south to Cockspur Street.
Read full entry →
Directions to next stop
- Head northwest
- Turn right onto Northumberland Street
- Turn left
- Turn right
- Turn right
- Turn right
- ... and 7 more steps
Distance: 0.3 km
·
Walk: 4 min
First American sculptor; alleged spy who smuggled intelligence about British military plans inside wax figures sent to America. Her surviving Chatham wax figure is in Westminster Abbey.
Patience Wright sculpted in wax here — and reportedly smuggled intelligence to Franklin concealed inside the hollow heads of her wax busts. Head east along the Strand to Essex Street Chapel.
Read full entry →
Directions to next stop
- Head north on The Mall
- Turn right
- Turn left
- Turn left
- Turn slight right
- Turn left
- ... and 17 more steps
Distance: 1.4 km
·
Walk: 17 min
First explicitly Unitarian chapel in England (1774); Franklin attended the inaugural service. Centre of the Dissenting intellectual network closely aligned with the American cause.
Franklin attended this Unitarian chapel, drawn to its rational theology and Enlightenment ideals. Continue east along the Strand to the tavern where Franklin's intellectual circle gathered.
Read full entry →
Directions to next stop
- Head east on Tweezers Alley
- Turn left onto Milford Lane
- Turn right onto Little Essex Street
- Continue straight onto Devereux Court
- Continue straight onto New Court
- Turn left onto Fountain Court
- ... and 12 more steps
Distance: 0.9 km
·
Walk: 11 min
Franklin's fortnightly supper club at the London Coffee House. Members included Richard Price, Joseph Priestley, and other pro-American intellectuals who shaped transatlantic support for the American cause.
Franklin debated science and liberty here with his closest London friends — Joseph Priestley, Richard Price, and other radical thinkers. Turn north into Covent Garden toward Freemasons' Hall.
Read full entry →
Directions to next stop
- Head north
- Turn left
- Turn slight right
- Turn left
- Keep left
- Turn right onto Arundel Street
- ... and 10 more steps
Distance: 1.5 km
·
Walk: 17 min
Masonic meeting place since 1775. Franklin and many American Founders were Freemasons; transatlantic Masonic networks provided connections between American and British sympathizers during the Revolution.
Franklin's Masonic connections ran deep on both sides of the Atlantic. Continue north into Bloomsbury, where Lord Mansfield's house was torched by rioters.
Read full entry →
Directions to next stop
- Head west on Wild Street
- Turn right
- Turn left onto Wild Street
- Turn slight left
- Turn right
- Turn left onto Newton Street
- ... and 18 more steps
Distance: 0.8 km
·
Walk: 9 min
Chief Justice Mansfield's house was burned by the mob during the Gordon Riots (June 1780). The riots were partly driven by American war frustrations; his library and irreplaceable legal papers were destroyed.
Lord Mansfield's legal rulings upheld Parliamentary supremacy over the colonies, and Franklin's circle feared his influence. His Bloomsbury house was torched by the Gordon rioters in 1780. Just around the corner stands the British Museum.
Read full entry →
Directions to next stop
- Head southeast on Bedford Place
- Turn right
- Turn left
- Turn left onto Great Russell Street
- Turn right onto Great Russell Street
- Turn right
- ... and 2 more steps
Distance: 0.4 km
·
Walk: 4 min
Founded in 1753, the Museum holds significant collections related to colonial America and the Revolution, including manuscripts, maps, and artifacts. The King's Library, donated by George III, contains many relevant documents.
Franklin visited Montagu House (the Museum's original home) to examine natural history specimens sent from the colonies. Head southwest to Piccadilly to end the tour.
Read full entry →
Directions to next stop
- Head southeast
- Turn left
- Turn right
- Turn left
- Turn right
- Turn right
- ... and 31 more steps
Distance: 1.7 km
·
Walk: 20 min
Most important pro-American publisher in London; published the London edition of Paine's Common Sense (1776) with four editions that year. Close ally of John Wilkes and leading voice against the war.
Almon published the London edition of Common Sense from this spot — the final link in a chain stretching from Franklin's salon to the printing press. The nerve centre of pro-American publishing that spread the revolutionary message across London.
Read full entry →