Perhaps one of the more gruesome stories about Holborn concerns the execution of Lord William Russell for his part in the unsuccessful plot to get rid of Charles II in 1683. Russell was thought to be one of the Rye House Plotters who were worried by the King's Catholic tendencies and wanted to see him out of the way.
Their scheming was discovered and the King took revenge. Lord Russell, son of the 1st Duke of Bedford met his end on the execution block in Lincoln's Inn Fields. But it was a messy finale. The executioner, Jack Ketch, has been described as clumsy and sadistic. It took five blows of the axe to severe Russell's head from his torso - and it wasn't the first time Ketch had botched a beheading.
He lost his job and was replaced by Paskah Rose and he didn't fare much better. He made the fatal mistake of stealing the Prosecutor's coat and for that criminal act, the executioner became the executed. Rose was hanged at Newgate.
This is just one of the anecdotal stories that the LONDON FOOTSTEPS group heard on the Holborn walking tour which started in Lincoln's Inn Fields and ended at Holborn Circus. It's just one of the walks in the Summer programme and if you want to come along then just get in touch through http://www.londonfootsteps.co.uk/
Their scheming was discovered and the King took revenge. Lord Russell, son of the 1st Duke of Bedford met his end on the execution block in Lincoln's Inn Fields. But it was a messy finale. The executioner, Jack Ketch, has been described as clumsy and sadistic. It took five blows of the axe to severe Russell's head from his torso - and it wasn't the first time Ketch had botched a beheading.
He lost his job and was replaced by Paskah Rose and he didn't fare much better. He made the fatal mistake of stealing the Prosecutor's coat and for that criminal act, the executioner became the executed. Rose was hanged at Newgate.
This is just one of the anecdotal stories that the LONDON FOOTSTEPS group heard on the Holborn walking tour which started in Lincoln's Inn Fields and ended at Holborn Circus. It's just one of the walks in the Summer programme and if you want to come along then just get in touch through http://www.londonfootsteps.co.uk/
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