London Dungeon celebrates England’s Ludicrous Laws

London Dungeon

The London Dungeon is to mark the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta with a new courtroom show that takes a look at some of England’s silliest laws.

The show from June 1 to 30 will give guests the change to fess up to their crimes in the show called Ludicrous Laws – and anyone who’s ever carried a plank of wood along a pavement or stuck a stamp on an envelope upside down should be mildly concerned.

Of the thousands of laws that have been passed since the signing of the Magna Carta in June 1215, there are some which remain on statute today that in their time may have been reasonable, but in 2015 are totally and utterly ludicrous.

Judge Lord Wendy Farqhuar’s London Dungeon Court will put some of them on trial in the show, and defendants could be ‘condemned’ to do the Drop Dead Drop Ride to Doom – the Dungeons’ vertical free fall ride.

Other criminals will also be present, including Jack the Ripper, Sweeney Todd and Guy Fawkes.

TWELVE MOST LUDICROUS LAWS OF ALL TIME:  

1.     It is against the law to carry a plank along a pavement (1839)

2.     Under this same law it is illegal for any person to fly a kite or slide on ice or snow whilst in the street (1839)

3.     Any dead whale or sturgeon found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the Monarch (1322)

4.     It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (2006)

5.     It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (1313)

6.     It is an offence for a pub landlord to allow drunkenness in their pub  – in other words it is illegal to be drunk in a pub! (1872)

7.     In London, it is illegal for a person (knowingly) with the Plague to ride on a bus (1984)

8.     It is illegal to keep a pigsty in front of your house – unless duly hidden (1847)

9.     It is an offence to be intoxicated and in charge of a horse or cow (1872)

10.  It is illegal to handle a salmon in suspicious circumstances (1986)

11.  It is illegal to beat or shake any carpet or rug in any street. However, beating or shaking a doormat is allowed before 8am (1839)

12.  No person shall import into England potatoes which he knows to be or has reasonable cause to suspect to be Polish potatoes (2004)

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