From film-inspired fear to whispered conspiracies, Blessing Adefemi delves into the mysteries behind the London Underground’s most peculiar urban legend – cannibals.
For however long there have been countless conspiracies about an uncanny presence lurking underneath the London Underground. From paranormal activity to alleged secret government bunkers and tunnels, the underground has long been associated with urban legends.
Yet, the most intriguing (or far fetched) of all is the possibility of flesh-eating dwellers lurking in the tunnels- cannibals!
I had a cannibal joke but I'm not sure it's good taste.
— Julie (@syswarren) March 28, 2023
Movies like Horror slash mystery movies Deathline (1972), a movie about a police inspector who discovers that survivors of a cave-in in the early 1900s are eating London subway riders.
And Creep (2004), a movie about a woman locked in the London Underground overnight. She later finds herself being stalked by a killer living in the sewers below.
Beyond these cinematic interpretations, does it really sound like the very nature they are based on turn out to be an actual reality we were unaware of even if it does sound a bit…peculiar.
One theory suggests that it’s not actually cannibalistic humans inhabiting our Underground, but something more animalistic instead
“There is a legend that in the underground of London, there live a tribe of wild pigs that have got trapped in the sewer system” says folklore historian Dr Simon Young
“Which (was) the London underground before (it became) the London underground…they’re just waiting there and breeding and they can’t get out so the population’s getting bigger and bigger.
“And sometimes the people who work in the sewers bump into these terrifying creatures.”
This urban legend, also referred to as the Black Swine of Hampstead, comes from a story from as early as 1736 which says that a pig had fled from a butchers knife escaping into the sewers. Where it apparently spent five months roaming and feasting on waste before eventually emerging.
While there’s no evidence to support this, the story gained popularity through publications like Henry Mayhew’s “London Labour and the London Poor“, which explores this tale.
Another theory dates back to the 1940s, when the London Underground was used as air raid shelters during WWII with over thousands of people seeking refuge in the tunnels and platforms during the Blitz.
At first, the government had refused to allow this, wanting to prioritise the fact that the Underground was a transportation network and not a shelter.
But due to the increase in violence of the war, the government was forced to change its policies and allow people to seek shelter deep in the tube lines. Deep-level Tube stations became multifunctional spaces, with shelters bedding down for the night on walkways, platforms and even de-electrified tracks.
But “after the Second World War, there was a squatters movement (emerged in 1946 due to severe housing shortages and government inaction).” says Christian Wolmar, journalist and author of “The Subterranean Railway: How the London Underground was Built and How it Changed the City Forever”,
“People took over abandoned properties or train stations that had been left abandoned by the war afterwards.”
Could you say they have now been claimed and repurposed by flesh eaters?
“I’m afraid I think it’d be very difficult with CCTV these days everywhere”
Even with that, a very small minority believe that there could be some ground for this belief. A reddit post in a r/London forum asking the question – “Cannibals in the London Underground – Urban Legend or Something More?” Puts this forward.
Although, the majority was quite sceptical about their possible existence, that being said, comments from redditers like “Which-World-6533” who said,
“Back in the Blitz a lot of people were equally scared of sleeping in the underground as staying up top. They were scared the Crawling People would get them.
“I remember my old Nan kept the toilet door locked at all times as she was scared people would come up through the bog.”
I also spoke to social media influencer Megan Coles (known as “historyoflondon” on Tik Tok) who had also created a video in regards to this very topic.
She said that “during the 1960’s, there was a spate of unsolved murders involving the homeless and commuters who were found lying on the rails with their innards (organs) hanging out and their limbs gnawed off
“Workmen have since reported seeing strange hairy ape-like creatures lurking in the tunnels of the Bakerloo and northern lines in the dead of night.”
Although there’s no evidence that I could find that proved these events actually occurred, Ms Coles says that,
“Anything is possible, London is built atop a huge network of subterranean tunnels, most of which have remained untouched for decades.
“Whether it be sewers, Cold War-era tunnels, or disused Tube tunnels – I don’t think the public is aware of quite how much is hidden under our feet.
“The idea of subterranean cannibals may seem far-fetched, but every urban legend has some kind of grain of truth in it.”
So, could there really be a chance that cannibals have been able to survive all this time in the Underground as we walk above oblivious to their existence?
“I guess hypothetically you could say yes” says Dr. James Cole, an archaeologist specialising in human evolution as well as research into cannibalism
“But I would really find it quite unlikely, and if it did, it would be survival probably more than anything else.”
Dr Cole explains that cases like the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 (1972) where survivors of this plane crash in the Andes Mountains had to resort to cannibalism in order to survive, is just one example of these extreme circumstances.
“If we think back into the palaeolithic or sort of the old stone age….we know that human communities did utilize cave environments and rock shelter environments
“But they all tend to be within what we call the daylight zone or cave systems. So within the first 10-15 meters.”
With that being said, the underground is said to be about 58.5 metres deep, so if humans were living in these tunnels, the lack of sunlight they would be getting would lead to various health problems such as a lack of vitamin D, weakened bones and immune functions.
He explains that for this legend to hold any truth, a pre-existing group of people would need to have already adapted to and be living underground, separated and isolated for tens of thousands of years.
He says that “when they come back genetically there’s alterations in the (their) code, then (they) sort of exchange DNA and then maybe a new sort of human species or species of animal or whatever kind may evolve.
“So from an evolutionary perspective that fission isolation and coming back is actually quite crucial to maintaining healthy DNA supplies and the process of speciation.”
He continues to say, “But I mean that is on really long time scales and it’s not about a group of 15 people kind of being isolated and then trying to kind of repopulate and build a community in that respect.
“You sort of have to think about it in a logical way. You either have to start with an extremely large population or you’re going to kind of go through (run out of) your food source.”
“So, on a long term scale cannibalistic humans it does not seem the most possible reality, especially when as Dr Cole says, “ If that’s your only food source (humans), you’re going to consume that pretty quickly given that, one body kind of gives enough nutrition for (about) 25 adults…I think it’s half a day.
“It’s not very long.”
With everything that I was beginning to discover, it left me wondering, why exactly are we fascinated by this legend?
Dr James Cole shares a little surrounding the possibilities of my fascination:
“It scares people, but it’s the car crash effect where you can’t help (but watch) and I think that’s kind of how people feel about this act.
“I think people view this act with this degree of fascination because archeologically speaking and evolutionary speaking I think we’ve probably been doing this for hundreds of thousands of years. Most mammals cannibalize and we are a mammal
“So maybe part of that fascination is the fact that we have that disconnect in a kind of moral behavioural code that says this isn’t allowed in a physical sense from a western perspective.”
“I think it’s a story line that people would find interesting and fascinating and would like to kind of believe, but I think there’s almost no chance of that really sort of existing in the modern age.”
So, as fun (or horrifying) as the idea sounds, there’s not much evidence to prove these subterranean humans actually exist beneath us. Still it’s easy to see why people are so intrigued by this tale, even I’ll say there’s something thrilling about blending history, horror and the unexplored corners of London.
I mean, who could blame anyone for wondering what could be lurking below?
Still, if you happen to hear the odd growl or maybe even an oink, maybe just walk a little bit faster…you know, for the vibes.
