Executions
14 October 2022 – 16 April 2023
The rarely told and often tragic human stories behind executions in London.
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Executions featured death masks from nearly 400 years ago.
Executions became embedded across London from as early as the 12th century, right through to the 19th. Even today, hints of this uncomfortable past can still be seen across the capital. This exhibition explored those stories and places.
The exhibition had a range of fascinating objects, paintings and projections: the vest likely worn by King Charles I when he was executed, a recreation of the Tyburn gallows with an immersive projection and the final letters of Londoners before execution.
Many of the items on display had rarely been seen in public.
“Sensitive, sobering, and absolutely fascinating”
Londonist
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Crime & LegislationThe history of London's Newgate Prison
London’s longest-running prison was home to high-profile criminals, common thieves and the condemned
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Royalty & AristocracyWhy Charles I was executed
A tale of religion and Parliament which ends abruptly in 1649
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Crime & LegislationJack Sheppard: An 18th-century working class hero
How one young criminal became a working class hero by escaping London prisons four times.
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Crime & LegislationHorsemonger Lane Jail
Where rooftop executions became a violent Southwark spectacle
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Royalty & AristocracyOliver Cromwell: The man who could have been king
Cromwell’s victories in the Civil Wars took him to the very top
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ExhibitionsSix things you didn’t know about executions in London
London’s courts condemned more people to die than the rest of England, and six facts you may not know
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ExhibitionsExecutions and death-penalty reforms in Britain
How 18th-century British reformers questioned capital punishment and the fight continues today
