The Museum of London Docklands, in a grade 1 listed converted Georgian sugar warehouse in West India Quay tells the story of the port, river and city.

In doing so it focusses on trade, migration and commerce in London.

Executions

Alongside its permanent displays, Executions, the museum's current exhibition, (to 16 April 2023) explores the capital's history of public punishment, from the first recorded public execution in 1196 to the last in 1868.

London was, during this period, known as the City of Gallows and saw some very high-profile public executions, celebrity criminals along with those of thousands of unknown and forgotten Londoners. the spectacle and rituals of execution days.

Executions became embedded in London's landscape, captured the public imagination.

Public executions were a very visible part of Londoners' lives for many centuries, with some attracting tens of thousands of people.

Executions brings together the rarely told and often tragic human stories behind these events, and reveals the social, cultural and economic impact of public executions over 700 years.

Among the items on display are an intricately woven silk vest said to have been worn by King Charles I at his execution.

There is also a 300-year-old bedsheet embroidered with a love note in human hair, and items belonging to the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry.

Visitors can also stand in front of the Newgate Prison door, which marked the last steps for many prisoners between the notoriously squalid Newgate Prison and the scaffold.

There is also the chance to learn about more about the 200 offences, from treason to theft, that were punishable by death.

Useful links

​ www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london/whats-on/exhibitions/executions