Virtual Tour - The Journey to Tyburn: On the Trail to the Fatal Tree
It’s one of the most infamous walks in English history… the procession of the condemned from Newgate Prison to the site of execution at Tyburn, now Marble Arch.
This was justice presented as theatre: with pantomime-like villains, heroes of the people and dramatic final speeches. And it was a free public fair attracting sometimes crowds of over ten thousand.
Richard’s Virtual Tour leads you on the course of the route, sets out the weird rituals and superstitions of the day and introduces you to a gallery of those executed from the traitors to the petty thieves.
Walking Tour - The Route of the Condemned through Holborn… via its Pubs.
Public hangings at Tyburn were carried out for hundreds of years. The condemned would be led there in a procession from Newgate prison as part of a gruesome public fair put on eight days a year. One legendary aspect of that day was the ritual of the prisoners taking a final drink in one of the many inns along the 2 and ½ mile route.
Walking through Holborn, Richard takes us along the first half of that route, joining up 10 fantastic present and a number of past pubs. We hear about the rituals of that procession and the final drink which would have been taken in at least two of the subject pub sites and pass three historic sites of execution. The walk also explores the history of the pubs (and some wider history through them), which are some of the finest and most historic in London such as the Olde Mitre, the Cittie of York and the Princess Louise. Ofcourse we take an interval drink half way.
Meet at the Viaduct Tavern, a short walk from St Paul's, Blackfriar's and City Thameslink stations. We finish the walk at the Angel pub, St Giles, just round the corner from Tottenham Court Road.