Arcade Tour

For Mark Lord, the Burlington Arcade is a capsule of the city, representing that little bit of England that the world knows. On each tour, guests are immersed in the 200+ years’ worth of history, uncovering hidden gems of the arcade, such as the Victorian stoves in the basement and the secret underground passageway where shop boys would scurry with packaged goods for customers awaiting in their carriage, prohibited from carrying their purchases.

The Beadles were originally hired as guards by Lord Cavendish’s regiment, and today they monitor the arcade as the oldest and smallest police force in Britain. As Head Beadle, Mark Lord’s unparalleled knowledge leads visitors on an exploratory journey transporting them right back to the arcade’s opening in 1819, originally commissioned by the Earl of Burlington to provide a safe place for his wife to shop.

‘When you walk through the arcade, you can actually feel the energy coming out of the shops. The building does have its own sort of spirit, its own sort of feel to it’ – Mark Lord, Head Beadle.