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10 stops · about 1.5 km on foot · London, England

Dark history around Newgate Prison, London (part 1)

Follow the stops in order. Each is a documented story set at or near this spot.

Open the walking route in Maps See it on the Dark Atlas

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  1. Start · Lincoln's Inn Fields, London · 1683

    The Botched Beheading of Lord Russell

    In July 1683 the Whig lord William Russell was beheaded at Lincoln's Inn Fields by Jack Ketch, who took several blows and then published a pamphlet blaming his victim.

  2. 964 m on · London · 1868

    The Last Man Hanged In Public In England

    A crowd of two thousand gathered outside a London prison to watch him hang — the last time that would ever legally happen in England.

  3. same spot · Newgate Prison, London · 1537

    The Monks Starved in the Dark

    Refusing to bow to the King, ten Carthusians were chained upright to posts in Newgate and left to die.

  4. same spot · Newgate Prison, London · 1724

    The Thief Who Escaped His Own Execution Cell

    Chained to the floor of Newgate's condemned cell, he picked his way out with a crooked nail.

  5. same spot · Newgate Prison, London · 1789

    The Woman Burned So Men Could Be Hanged

    English law spared women the axe for treason — and sentenced them to be burned alive at the stake instead.

  6. same spot · Old Bailey, London · 1789

    The Eleven-Year-Old Sentenced to Hang for a Frock

    In January 1789 a London girl of about eleven was condemned at the Old Bailey for robbing a child of her clothes. A royal reprieve sent her to Australia, where she became a founding mother.

  7. 208 m on · London · 1534

    The Prophet Who Warned a King

    She warned that Henry VIII would die within months if he remarried — and paid with her own head instead.

  8. 311 m on · St Paul's Churchyard, London · 1606

    The Priest Who Kept the Secret of the Gunpowder Plot

    Henry Garnet, the Jesuit superior, heard of the Gunpowder Plot under the seal of confession and said nothing. He was hanged at St Paul's, and a blood-stained husk of straw was said to show his face.

  9. same spot · St Paul's Churchyard, London · 1606

    The Corpse That Answered Back After Execution

    As the executioner held up his torn-out heart and declared him a traitor, legend says the dead man's body replied.

  10. same spot · St Paul's Cathedral, London · 1441

    The Duchess Who Turned to Witchcraft

    Accused of using witchcraft against the young King Henry VI, a duchess was paraded barefoot through London.

Coordinates mark the place of each story, and some are approximate. Check opening times and access before you go.