Westminster
Westminster is the seat of power in Syndicate's London: Buckingham Palace, 10 Downing Street, the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey all stand here. The Templar Lilla Graves, a prize fighter known as the Bludger, holds it in 1868, and the Devil's Acre slum sits right beside the grand buildings.
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Good to know
- Templar overseer: Lilla Graves, the Bludger.
- Templar Hunts: Wallace Bone, Beatrice Gribble and Edgar Collicott.
- Blighter strongholds: Devil's Acre and Blue Anchor Alley.
- Bounty Hunts: Harrison Harley, Ivan Bunbury and Wade Lynton.
- Factories: Red Growler Distillery and Goodfellow's Brewery.
- The Secrets of London list four Westminster discs (13, 28, 31 and 32) and three under a separate Buckingham heading (1, 4 and 30).
What the borough is like
One of the richest parts of the city, with royal parks, government offices and a cluster of churches. It is also where most of the late story takes place, as Starrick's plans move into politics and the palace.
Liberating Westminster
Clear Graves' Templars, strongholds, bounties and both drink factories. At the gang war she opens by killing a captured Rook in front of you. Killing her in Gang War: Westminster gives the Rooks the borough.
Story memories set here
Sequence 7 has Jacob protecting Prime Minister Disraeli, with The Bodyguard starting at 10 Downing Street and Driving Mrs. Disraeli touring the Devil's Acre. Motion to Impeach takes him into the Palace of Westminster, and the main story builds to the Queen's ball at Buckingham Palace in A Night to Remember.
After the story
Queen Victoria's Operation side memories are given at Buckingham Palace, and Operation: Westminster has you stop a Templar plot against Parliament.
Freedom of the PressFreedom of the Press introduces Alexander Graham Bell, who turns Kaylock's broken launcher into the rope launcher on your gauntlet. As Evie you then test it on Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster, fitting fuses for Bell's independent telegraph line.- The BodyguardThe Bodyguard has Jacob slip into Benjamin and Mary Anne Disraeli's carriage outside 10 Downing Street just before hired thugs attack it. You fight off the ambush, chase the carriage when it is stolen and bring the couple back safely.
- Driving Mrs. DisraeliDriving Mrs. Disraeli is an escort memory with a comic streak: Jacob shakes off reporters, drives Mary Anne Disraeli and her dog Desmond into the Devil's Acre slum, and keeps her out of trouble long enough to learn who B is.
- Motion to ImpeachMotion to Impeach is the assassination of the Earl of Cardigan inside the Palace of Westminster. Jacob steals a password, takes a policeman hostage to walk into Westminster Hall, and has an opposing MP lead him straight to Cardigan's office.
- A Night to RememberA Night to Remember is the final main memory: the twins enter the Queen's ball at Buckingham Palace, Evie retrieves the vault plans from the White Drawing Room while Jacob rescues captive Royal Guards on the roofs, and both face Crawford Starrick in the vault below.
- An Abominable MysteryAn Abominable Mystery is the second Charles Darwin memory: a plant no botanist recognises is making people in a Westminster park delirious. You investigate the flower beds, follow tracks to a cart full of the plants and then use their pollen against pursuers while driving Darwin to a safe disposal spot.
- Beatrice GribbleBeatrice Gribble is a Westminster Templar hunt against a would-be lady-in-waiting who, after repeated rejections, has told the Templars she plans to kill the Queen's consort. Kill her with a voltaic bomb for full sync.
- Blue Anchor AlleyBlue Anchor Alley is a Westminster gang stronghold under heavyweight champion Lilla Graves, on ground once busy with sailors and fishmongers. Burn the heist plans and kill the leader undetected for full sync.
- Conjuring up a Killing!Conjuring up a Killing! is the ninth Dreadful Crimes case, brought to you by Charles Dickens: the spiritualist Thaddeus the Amazing predicted he would die at his next seance, and then did when the lights went out. You question his regular clients across Westminster to unpick a web of swindles.
- Devil's AcreDevil's Acre is a Westminster gang stronghold, the most violent of the Blighter bases, run under Lilla 'the Bludger' Graves. Free and protect the captured Rooks for full sync.
- Edgar Collicott and BodyguardEdgar Collicott and Bodyguard is a Westminster Templar hunt against the Order's most trusted messenger, who handles its 'special operations' of stealing secrets and silencing the sources. Air assassinate him for full sync.
- Gang War: WestminsterThe Westminster gang war is the fight against Lilla 'the Bludger' Graves and her Blighters for control of the borough. Graves opens by snapping the neck of a captured Rook, so expect a hard brawl.
- Harrison HarleyHarrison Harley is a Westminster bounty for a minor canon of Westminster Abbey who plans to burn the Abbey down. Kidnap him and deliver him to Abberline alive.
- Ivan BunburyIvan Bunbury is a Westminster bounty hunt: a Blighter sent by Lilla Graves to plant a stronghold in Green Park, right beside Buckingham Palace. Kidnap him and deliver him to Abberline alive for full sync.
- Operation: Drive for LivesOperation: Drive for Lives is the third Queen Victoria memory: the Templar leader has escaped and is believed to be hiding in Westminster. You trail his carriage to Victoria Station, then have to rush a lit cart of explosives away from the crowds.
- Operation: WestminsterOperation: Westminster is the last Queen Victoria memory: the remaining Templar bombers have got into the Houses of Parliament with their explosives. You work through the building with Fleming, removing bombers one by one, then deal with the leader and defuse the charges.
- Wade LyntonWade Lynton is a Westminster bounty for a 22-year-old drunk who picks fights for fun and has started causing trouble in the wealthier parts of town. Kidnap him and bring him to Abberline alive.
- Wallace BoneWallace Bone is a Westminster Templar hunt against a bored, drug-addled man with enough connections to dodge sentencing for his crimes. He moves with a large escort of thugs; kill him from a hiding spot for full sync.
- 10 Downing Street10 Downing Street is the Prime Minister's home and office in Westminster. In 1868 Benjamin Disraeli lives here, and Jacob's work as his bodyguard in Sequence 7 starts outside the house.
- AdmiraltyThe Admiralty is a government office on Whitehall in Westminster, one of the period buildings you can climb and read about in the in-game database. No memory centres on it.
- Banqueting HallThe Banqueting Hall, later the Chapel Royal, is a 1622 hall on Whitehall in Westminster and a database landmark in Syndicate. It is the only surviving part of the old Palace of Whitehall.
- Blue Anchor AlleyBlue Anchor Alley is a Blighter stronghold in Westminster run under Lilla Graves, one of two in that borough. Freeing it lets the Rooks set up there instead.
- Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is Queen Victoria's London home in Westminster and the setting for the climax of Syndicate's story, the Queen's ball. It is also where the Queen hands out the Operation side memories, and it has a viewpoint.
- Buckingham Palace vaultThe Buckingham Palace vault is a hidden crypt under the palace gardens that holds the Shroud of Eden, the Piece of Eden both the Assassins and Starrick are chasing in Syndicate. You finally reach it during A Night to Remember.
- Devil's AcreThe Devil's Acre is a slum in Westminster and Lilla Graves' Blighter stronghold, described in game as the most violent stronghold in London. It also features in the main story when Jacob escorts Mary Anne Disraeli through it.
- Dover HouseDover House is a mansion on Whitehall in Westminster that later became the Scotland Office. It is a database landmark rather than a mission location.
- Elizabeth TowerElizabeth Tower, the clock tower called Big Ben, stands at the Palace of Westminster. You climb it twice: once as Evie repairing telegraph lines in Freedom of the Press, and once to deal with a Templar bomb at the top.
- Foreign OfficeThe Foreign Office is the government building on Whitehall, Westminster, finished in 1868, the same year Syndicate is set. It appears as a database landmark.
- Green ParkGreen Park is a royal park in Westminster near Buckingham Palace. The Blighter Ivan Bunbury is trying to set up shop here in his Bounty Hunt.
- Horse GuardsHorse Guards is the Household Cavalry's building in Westminster, a database landmark in Syndicate.
- Montagu HouseMontagu House is a Whitehall town house in Westminster, a database landmark in Syndicate. By 1868 it has been rebuilt as a French Renaissance-style mansion.
- Palace of WestminsterThe Palace of Westminster, home of Parliament, is in Westminster beside the Clock Tower. It has a viewpoint, Jacob assassinates the Earl of Cardigan here in Motion to Impeach, and the twins later stop a Templar bomb plot inside.
- Richmond TerraceRichmond Terrace is a row of eight grand houses in Westminster, built in 1822 and featured as a database landmark.
- Royal MewsThe Royal Mews are the royal stables at Buckingham Palace in Westminster, a database landmark in Syndicate.
- St James' ParkSt James' Park is London's oldest royal park, just east of Buckingham Palace in Westminster. In Triple Theft it is where Jacob and Roth go after Starrick's head of security, Benjamin Raffles.
- St Margaret's, WestminsterSt Margaret's is the parish church in the grounds of Westminster Abbey, the church of the House of Commons, and a database landmark in Syndicate.
- Victoria stationVictoria station is a Westminster railway terminus south of Buckingham Palace. In Double Trouble, Jacob comes here after Catherine Gladstone, who is under guard, while gathering invitations to the Queen's ball.
- Wellington BarracksWellington Barracks is the Foot Guards' barracks near Buckingham Palace in Westminster, a database landmark.
- Westminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey is the coronation church west of Parliament in Westminster. The Blighter Harrison Harley plans to burn it down, and his Bounty Hunt has you kidnap him first.
- WhitehallWhitehall is the street of government offices in Westminster, named after the vanished Palace of Whitehall. The Admiralty, Horse Guards, Foreign Office, Scotland Office and 10 Downing Street all sit along it.
- Royal Letter: 13 June 1865This royal letter is Queen Victoria writing to her son Bertie, the Prince of Wales, about the names he has picked for his new baby. She is not impressed.
- Royal Letter: 14 October 1867This royal letter is a journal entry in which Queen Victoria hears of a reported Fenian plot to seize her. She calls the idea foolish.
- Royal Letter: 16 December 1867This royal letter is Queen Victoria scolding the Foreign Secretary, Lord Stanley, for sending dispatches before she has approved them.
- Royal Letter: 16 October 1866This royal letter is Queen Victoria to the Prince of Wales about his wish to visit St Petersburg for the wedding of Princess Dagmar, his wife Alix's sister.
- Royal Letter: 19 December 1867This royal letter is from General Grey to Queen Victoria, laying out the full extent of the threats against her. Lord Derby's own warning follows in the same text.
- Royal Letter: 21 May 1865This royal letter is Mary Lincoln's reply to Queen Victoria's condolences. It is brief and grateful.
- Royal Letter: 22 January 1866This royal letter is Queen Victoria to the Prime Minister, Earl Russell, agreeing to open Parliament but protesting bitterly about it. She compares the ceremony to an execution.
- Royal Letter: 22 May 1867This royal letter is Queen Victoria's birthday note to Bertie, sent with the insignia of the Order of the Thistle. It also hands out honours to other relatives.
- Royal Letter: 26 June 1867This royal letter is Queen Victoria complaining to Lord Charles FitzRoy that people are trying to stop her servant John Brown from attending her at a review in Hyde Park.
- Royal Letter: 27 April 1865This royal letter is from Queen Victoria to her uncle Leopold, King of the Belgians, written while he was ill. She thanks him for writing when weak and pleads with him to follow his doctors.
- Royal Letter: 29 April 1865This royal letter is Queen Victoria's condolence note to Mary Todd Lincoln after her husband's assassination. Victoria writes as one widow to another.
- Royal Letter: 6 February 1866This royal letter is an extract from Queen Victoria's journal describing the day she opened Parliament, the ordeal she dreaded in her letter to Earl Russell.
- Secret of London #01Secret of London #01 is one of Michel Reuge's music boxes, hidden in the Buckingham Palace area of Westminster. Open it and you take disc #01, a key to Reuge's vault, along with a short verse that promises to search for mad Maud wherever she lies, even under the earth.
- Secret of London #04Secret of London #04 is one of Michel Reuge's music boxes, hidden in the Buckingham Palace area of Westminster. Open it and you take disc #04, a key to Reuge's vault, along with a short verse that describes a sleeper who has not rested since the Conquest until the boy of love stripped him bare.
- Secret of London #13Secret of London #13 is one of Michel Reuge's music boxes, hidden in Westminster. Open it and you take disc #13, a key to Reuge's vault, along with a short verse that rides off into the wilderness with a burning spear and a horse made of air.
- Secret of London #28Secret of London #28 is one of Michel Reuge's music boxes, hidden in Westminster. Open it and you take disc #28, a key to Reuge's vault, along with a short verse that boasts of a giant-killing staff and a grim recipe for feeding fairies.
- Secret of London #30Secret of London #30 is one of Michel Reuge's music boxes, hidden in the Buckingham Palace area of Westminster. Open it and you take disc #30, a key to Reuge's vault, along with a short verse that boasts of dicing with royals and taking silver cups from their gilded palaces.
- Secret of London #31Secret of London #31 is one of Michel Reuge's music boxes, hidden in Westminster. Open it and you take disc #31, a key to Reuge's vault, along with a short verse that climbs to heaven to watch the stars turn pirouettes for Galileo.
- Secret of London #32Secret of London #32 is one of Michel Reuge's music boxes, hidden in Westminster. Open it and you take disc #32, a key to Reuge's vault, along with a short verse that walks the four corners of the world through thunder, rain and wonder.
Related places
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City of London
The City of London is the borough of banks, trading halls and tall stone offices on the north bank of the Thames. In 1868 the Templar Bloody Nora runs it through the Blighters, and you take it from her by clearing her lieutenants, strongholds and factories before a final gang war.
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Lambeth
Lambeth is the quietest of Syndicate's boroughs, a stretch of low houses, markets and works on the south bank across from Westminster. The Templar Cletus Strain runs it in 1868, and it is home to Lambeth Palace and the Lambeth Asylum, where several major memories take place.
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Southwark
Southwark is Syndicate's industrial heart: factories, docks and rows of brick workers' housing on the south bank. The Templar Octavia Plumb oversees it in 1868, and its riverside wharves and Waterloo station are the stage for several key memories.
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The Strand
The Strand is London's shopping and theatre borough, a busy, well-off district full of parks, shops and easy pickpocket targets. The Templar Victor Lynch rules it in 1868, and it holds the Alhambra Music Hall, Scotland Yard and St. Pancras station.