Plaque

(lost) Tower scaffold - 1946

Tower scaffold - 1946
Inscription

On this site stood a scaffold on which were executed:-
Queen Anne Boleyn - 1536
Margaret, Countess of Salisbury - 1541
Queen Katherine Howard - 1542
Jane, Viscountess Rochford - 1542
Lady Jane Grey - 1554
Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex - 1601
also near this spot was beheaded Lord Hastings - 1483.

See Anne Boleyn's plaque for when/how this plaque was displayed.

Site: Tower of London execution site (5 memorials)

EC3, Tower Green, Tower of London

Members of royalty sentenced to death were spared the ordeal of public execution on Tower Hill. This spot, inside the very secure Tower of London, was reserved just for them, and apparently the executions took place under cover. Excavations have confirmed the existence of a building here.

But one also hears that Lady Jane Grey's prison windows looked out over Tower Green and that she must have seen her scaffold being erected, which would not have been the case had it been enclosed.

2017: Within a few weeks we came across not just one but two predecessors to the glass cushion which has been here since 2006.

2023: We watched the 1946 short documentary film 'Prisoners of the Tower' from which we captured images of 2 other plaques at the site.

2023: Using Museum of London data Londonist have analysed the who, why, where, when and how of London executions. To see the more than 100 executees on London Remembers click here.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Tower scaffold - 1946

Subjects commemorated i

Anne Boleyn

Second wife of Henry VIII and so Queen of England, 1533 to 1536.  Though marr...

Read More

Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford

Born Jane Parker, a distant relative of Henry VIII, she became a lady-in-wait...

Read More

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

Born Herefordshire.  Related via the Boleyn family to Queen Elizabeth I.  Mar...

Read More

Lady Jane Grey

Married to Lord Guilford Dudley.  Her husband’s father persuaded the dying Ed...

Read More

William, Lord Hastings

An important man in the court of Edward IV, rising to the position of Lord Ch...

Read More

Show all 7

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Tower scaffold - 1946

Also at this site i

Anne Boleyn beheaded - 1946

Anne Boleyn beheaded - 1946

This image comes from the 1946 short documentary film 'Prisoners of the Tower...

Read More

Tower of London execution site

Tower of London execution site

Catling wrote the poem as well as creating the sculpture. Doesn't that cushio...

Read More

Tower of London execution site - 1972

Tower of London execution site - 1972

In the first 2 minutes of the 1972 CCF film "The Boy Who Turned Yellow" some ...

Read More

Tower of London execution site - c.1910

Tower of London execution site - c.1910

This image came from Twitter via Londonist, and from the children's clothes m...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Bunhill burial ground - 5

Bunhill burial ground - 5

EC1, City Road

The 5 piers on the City Road boundary each carry a golden inscription.  We list them here south to north. There is a common misapprehens...

15 subjects commemorated
Ava Gardner - plaque

Ava Gardner - plaque

SW7, Ennismore Gardens, 34

Gardner lived in the first floor apartment, 1968 until her death here in 1990. The Irish Examiner has some photos of the rather garish in...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Edwardes Square

Edwardes Square

W8, South Edwardes Square, The Temple

Edwardes Square 1811 - 1820 Partly built by a Frenchman, falsely rumoured to be an agent of Napoleon, derived its name from William Edwar...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Clement Attlee - Woodford

Clement Attlee - Woodford

IG8, Monkhams Avenue, 17

Attlee lived here while he was MP for Walthamstow West.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Cecil Beaton - NW3

Cecil Beaton - NW3

NW3, Langland Gardens, 21

Sir Cecil Beaton, 1904 - 1980, photographer and designer, was born and lived here until 1911. Heath and Old Hampstead Society

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Sir Terence Rattigan

Sir Terence Rattigan

Playwright. Born Terence Mervyn Rattigan at 100 Cornwall Gardens, London. He achieved early theatrical success with his comedy 'French Without Tears' in 1936. This was followed by 'The Winslow Boy'...

Person, Seriously Famous, Theatre, Bermuda

1 memorial
Tothill Fields Prison

Tothill Fields Prison

Also known as Tothill Fields Bridewell, Westminster Bridewell and the Westminster House of Correction. It was one of the less severe places of incarceration, as one of the main punishments was not ...

Place, Law

2 memorials
Deptford Creek bridge

Deptford Creek bridge

From the magnificent Edith Streets:  The Bridge, with its control tower alongside, was opened in 1954. The first footbridge was built in 1804, and the first road bridge in 1815. The bridge lifts le...

Building, Transport

1 memorial
Tachbrook - Foundation

Tachbrook - Foundation

SW1, Bessborough Street

Pulford Street and the Equitable Gas Works used to occupy this six acre site.  In the 1930s the Pulford Street Site Committee was respons...

3 subjects commemorated