London Month of the Dead - City of Gallows

CITY OF GALLOWS London's Execution Map with Dr Thomas Ardill on Saturday 7th October 2023 from 3:30 pm "Not content with the long-drawn procession to Tyburn, they paraded the grisly apparatus of death through almost every quarter of London. There is scarcely a street... in which it has not at one time or another planted its black foot." Charles Knight, London, vol.II, 1841 From the middle ages to 1868, capital punishment, and its related architecture and ceremonies, were a common and highly visible form of public spectacle in London. Executions typically took place up to eight times a year, not only at the customary sites but all over the city. Criminals were paraded across the city, and executed bodies and decapitated heads formed important landmarks. It was almost impossible to avoid witnessing the terrible price of crime. Drawing on new research undertaken for the recent Executions exhibition, Dr Thomas Ardill will present a virtual tour of London’s execution landscape through 700 years of history, exploring who was executed where and why. Tickets £12 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Kensal Green Cemetery. Please click here to buy. DR. THOMAS ARDILL Dr Thomas Ardill is a curator of paintings, prints and drawings at the Museum of London, where he is currently working on permanent displays for the new London Museum, opening at West Smithfield in 2026. In 2022-3 he co-curated Executions: 700 year of Public Punishment at the Museum of London Docklands.

CITY OF GALLOWS
London's Execution Map with Dr Thomas Ardill
on Saturday 7th October 2023 from 3:30 pm

"Not content with the long-drawn procession to Tyburn, they paraded the grisly apparatus of death through almost every quarter of London. There is scarcely a street... in which it has not at one time or another planted its black foot."
Charles Knight, London, vol.II, 1841

From the middle ages to 1868, capital punishment, and its related architecture and ceremonies, were a common and highly visible form of public spectacle in London. Executions typically took place up to eight times a year, not only at the customary sites but all over the city. Criminals were paraded across the city, and executed bodies and decapitated heads formed important landmarks. It was almost impossible to avoid witnessing the terrible price of crime.

Drawing on new research undertaken for the recent Executions exhibition, Dr Thomas Ardill will present a virtual tour of London’s execution landscape through 700 years of history, exploring who was executed where and why.

Tickets £12 including a 20% donation toward a host of restoration projects at Kensal Green Cemetery. Please click here to buy.

DR. THOMAS ARDILL
Dr Thomas Ardill is a curator of paintings, prints and drawings at the Museum of London, where he is currently working on permanent displays for the new London Museum, opening at West Smithfield in 2026. In 2022-3 he co-curated Executions: 700 year of Public Punishment at the Museum of London Docklands.