Forgotten Urban Histories: The extraordinary secrets of ordinary cities.

About Forgotten Urban Histories: The extraordinary secrets of ordinary cities.

Forgotten Urban Histories is a sharp, atmospheric, and beautifully immersive journey through the hidden layers, forgotten lore, and quiet anomalies of the places we think we know. The premise is simple: while modern cities and historical landscapes constantly modernise and push forward, they rarely truly erase where they have been. Instead of demolishing their past, they bury it, lock it away, or leave it to pass into local myth—creating a parallel world where history, legend, and the present day exist directly alongside one another. This podcast is a detail-driven exploration of those incredible, overlooked spaces and stories. We bypass the polished tourist landmarks to uncover the spectacular omissions and eerie mysteries that most people walk straight past every day: abandoned infrastructure untouched for decades, whispered local legends that blur the line between fact and folklore, forgotten historical chapters, and anomalous sites waiting silently just out of view. Combining rigorous historical research with a lightly witty, observational eye, Forgotten Urban Histories treats the world’s most fascinating locales as living, breathing historical marvels. We pull back the curtain on the everyday landscape to find the awe, mystery, and amazement buried just out of sight. This isn't a lecture on history; it's a celebration of the extraordinary, forgotten narratives and spaces we are lucky enough to still be able to rediscover and explore. About the Host Mark Kerrigan holds a Bachelor of Education and a Master’s degree in Theological Studies. With over twenty years of experience as an educator, Mark excels at breaking down complex, rigorous academic research into engaging, accessible, and fascinating narratives. He is a multi-disciplinary creator under the Narranimate Studios banner, hosting both The B-Side Bible and the Forgotten Urban Histories podcast. Mark is also a versatile author, having written two speculative fiction novels as well as two children's novels. Across all his projects, he combines his background in education, narrative world-building, and historical criticism to strip the varnish off the past—delivering it exactly as it was: loud, accurate, and completely off the record.

Publisher

Mark Kerrigan

Category

history

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

29 Oct 2025

Latest episode

13 Sept 2026

Latest episodes

6 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   13 Sept 2026

   The Layers of Poveglia

   Episode Description: Every year, millions of travellers stand along the Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice, gazing out across the sparkling, turquoise expanse of the Venetian Lagoon toward the glittering facades of the Doge’s Palace and the Basilica di San Marco. Venice presents itself to the world as an impossible masterpiece of marble, light, and maritime ambition—a city that conquered the tides through sheer artistic will. But the surface is never the whole story. In this episode of Forgotten ...

2. 

   7 Jul 2026

   The Miracle at Malta

   On the afternoon of April 9, 1942, the sky over the village of Mosta turned entirely black. Malta was enduring the absolute height of an intense, industrial Axis siege, and the Luftwaffe had targeted the island with relentless, heavy bombardment. But as the sirens wailed, three hundred local citizens didn’t run for the deep-level limestone trenches. Instead, they gathered together for late afternoon Mass beneath the massive, towering dome of the Rotunda of Mosta—the third-largest unsupported ...

3. 

   23 Jun 2026

   London’s Hidden Tube Tunnels: Ghost Stations, War Rooms, and Plague Pits

   London is exceptionally good at appearances. From the surface, it presents as an entirely orderly, predictable metropolis that queues with mathematical precision and insists on calling things "temporary closures" even when the gates have been padlocked since the Second World War. But just fifty feet below the pavements—under the heavy thrum of the red double-deckers and the hurried rush of takeaway coffee cups—there is another version of the city entirely. One that does not rush, does not rec...

4. 

   2 Dec 2025

   The Bourbon Tunnel

   The Bourbon Tunnel: The King Who Dug Himself an Escape Beneath the lively streets of Naples lies a tunnel built out of royal nerves and Neapolitan stone. In this episode, we follow the curious story of King Ferdinand II, who ordered a secret escape route carved straight through centuries of underground history — Roman aqueducts, Renaissance quarries, and everything in between. The plan was simple: if the people revolted (again), he’d slip out of the palace and vanish into a private subterrane...

5. 

   3 Nov 2025

   The Catacombs of Paris: The Unnamed Dead.

   Beneath the bright boulevards of Paris lies another city — silent, cold, and built entirely of human bone. In this episode, we explore how overflowing cemeteries, disease, revolution, and empire all led to the creation of a vast ossuary beneath the French capital — a labyrinth that holds the remains of over six million people. We walk through the history that placed them there, and then shine a light on four of the countless unnamed Parisians whose lives and deaths now form the foundations of...

6. 

   29 Oct 2025

   The Mole of Edge Hill: Liverpool's Mysterious Tunnels

   Beneath the quiet streets of Liverpool lies a labyrinth carved by hand over two centuries ago — a network of tunnels with no clear purpose and no surviving plans. In this debut episode, Mark Kerrigan explores the mystery of Joseph Williamson, the eccentric visionary known as The Mole of Edge Hill. From vast underground chambers to the strange relics left behind, discover the story of one man’s hidden world — and the secrets still buried beneath the city.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Spotify

5.0 / 5

2 ratings

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Guest appearances

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