Plaque

(relocated) Tower of London execution site - 1972

Tower of London execution site - 1972
Inscription

Site of scaffold

In the first 2 minutes of the 1972 CCF film "The Boy Who Turned Yellow" some boys are taken on a school trip to the Tower of London and we see this memorial. The inscription is about as terse as it's possible to be but it does the job. Certainly minimal by comparison with the glass cushion monument erected in 2006. 

And then we came across an article in the New York Post (July 2017) that locates this plaque - it's one of the unusual objects decorating the bar at the Yeoman Warders’ Club: "Among them is a plaque that reads “SITE OF SCAFFOLD” – kept as a souvenir after it was removed from the site where executions took place. For good measure, the Yeoman Gaoler’s axe hangs just above it, a ghoulish reminder of the gruesome past."

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 other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Tower of London execution site - 1972

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 - 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

Tower scaffold - 1946

Tower scaffold - 1946

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

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Martha Gellhorn

Martha Gellhorn

SW3, Cadogan Square, 72

Martha Gellhorn, 1908 - 1998, war correspondent and writer, lived and worked in a flat here. English Heritage

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Croydon Grand Theatre and Opera House

Croydon Grand Theatre and Opera House

CR0, High Street Croydon, 125

The Grand Theatre and Opera House stood on this site 1896 - 1959. Croydon's Heritage

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Lock Keepers Office

Lock Keepers Office

SE16, Princes Court

None of these four plaques are visible in our photo (and still this was the best position form which to take the photo!) all being hidden...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
St Peter’s and St Thomas - war memorial

St Peter’s and St Thomas - war memorial

E2, Warner Place, 52, St Peter’s Church Hall

We were pleased to find a website, St Peters Bethnal Green, that has already listed these people and provided lots of research, and we di...

War dead | WW1
174 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
St Michael & All Angels Church - additions foundation stone

St Michael & All Angels Church - additions foundation stone

W4, The Avenue, St Michael & All Angels Church

The church designed by Norman Shaw, was built in 1879. This foundation stone is for the Parish Hall and adjoining north aisle, designed b...

4 subjects commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

John Wright

John Wright

N1, Dagmar Passage, 14, Little Angel Theatre

Plaque unveiled by his widow Lydia.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Gloucester Gate Bridge (SE)

Gloucester Gate Bridge (SE)

NW1, Parkway

This stone records the opening of the bridge to the public.  Another similar stone at the north-west corner of the bridge records the gif...

7 subjects commemorated, 1 creator