91³Ô¹ÏÍø

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 have analysed the who, why, where, when and how of London executions. To see the more than 100 executees on 91³Ô¹ÏÍø click here.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in 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...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford

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

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex

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

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Lady Jane Grey

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

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

William, Lord Hastings

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

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

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...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Tower of London execution site

Tower of London execution site

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

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

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 ...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

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...

91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Nearby Memorials

Hugh Myddelton's house

Hugh Myddelton's house

N1, Upper Street, 140-3

This integral plaque is on the corner between the ground and first floor windows.

2 subjects commemorated
Westminster Hall - Churchill

Westminster Hall - Churchill

SW1, St Margaret Street, Westminster Hall

These 11 plaques are laid into the floor of the hall, in a line down the middle, in this sequence, starting at the entrance end: R101; Ha...

1 subject commemorated
Lockerbie bench - 15 - Wagner

Lockerbie bench - 15 - Wagner

TW9, Kew Gardens

We have numbered these 17 plaques, anti-clockwise, starting from the plaque for the whole crew which faces the water. Oddly, the last two...

2 subjects commemorated
Bobby Moore Bridge

Bobby Moore Bridge

HA9, Olympic Way

The building in the background of the mural is, of course, the old Wembley Stadium.

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
Festival of Britain - N16

Festival of Britain - N16

N16, Somerford Grove

The Somerford Estate has 12 blocks and we believe the award was for the whole estate, not just this block. The architect and landscape d...

1 subject commemorated