From traitors to pickpockets, researchers draw up roll call of 700 years of state killing in the capital
It used to be said that London’s streets were paved in gold but in reality they were running in blood – the blood of tens of thousands of people executed by the state for crimes ranging from treason to petty theft.
Over 700 years, public executions in the capital – often intended as a deterrent against criminal activity – were watched by vast crowds, creating an “execution economy” built on a thirst for grisly details and a physical hunger born of hours of anticipation.
