Memorial day - 51

The subject of today's blog is, like the last two weeks, located in the Smithfield area of London.

Walking south from Smithfield Market along Giltspur Street, towards the Old Bailey - the Central Criminal Court, on the left side you come across an appropriately named road. Look up and you see the figure of the Golden Boy. It was erected to mark the point where in 1666 the Great Fire of London was stopped from spreading further north.

The figure of a fat boy was meant to signify the belief that the fire was God's punishment for Londoner's indulgence in gluttony.

The statue was originally erected in the front wall of the Fortune of War pub. The establishment was notorious for the part it played in former times in body snatching. The Resurrectionists would bring bodies to the pub to be purchased by the surgeons from Saint Bartholomew's Hospital located across the road.

Now for the final question. I made reference to the appropriately named road. What came first the Boy or Cock Lane?

Memorial day - 50

If you read last weeks blog about the bloody history of the Smithfield area, you wouldn't be surprised to read that Smithfield became the primary retail meat market serving London. In fact the market didn't develop from the gruesome executions past, but from the fact that in former times it was the site of a cattle mart.

With the growth of supermarkets where people buy their meat double wrapped in polystyrene, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of independent butcher shops. This has resulted in Smithfield almost going out of business.

While it is no longer the hive of nighttime activity, nevertheless it is well worth a visit to see the intricate wrought iron grill work in the market.

But today's featured memorial was erected in Smithfield Market in memory of the former workers: butchers, porters and clerks who worked in the market, but lost their lives in World War 1.

Memorial day - 49

The subject of last weeks blog was the trees outside St Paul's Cathedral. If you walk north from St Paul's past the Old Bailey you come to a square, bounded on the north by Smithfield Market and on the south Saint Bartholomew's Hospital.

Set in the hospital wall are two plaques which commemorate the gruesome history of the location. In former times this was the site for public executions.

Read the details on the plaques and you will see just how shocking these events were. The objective was to cause as much pain and suffering before the prisoner died.

The plaque behind the iron grill commemorates Christian martyrs who were burnt at the stake. Named on the plaque are John Rogers, John Bradford and John Philpot executed in the years 1555 ~ 1557.

If the prisoner was wealthy he or she would bribe the executioner to provide alcohol and drugs to dull the pain. And to place a small pack of gunpowder at the base of the their spine, which would be ignited by the flames to kill them. The less fortunate would suffer a long lingering painful death.


The other commemorative plaque is to a far more famous, some would say infamous person, Sir William Wallace. A Scottish hero made famous by Mel Gibson in the 1995 film Braveheart.

From 1296 William Wallace led the Scottish patriots in their defense of their homeland against Edward I of England.

He was betrayed by his own countrymen and handed over to Edward.

He was brought to London and held prisoner in the Tower. On 23rd August 1305 he was stripped naked and pulled at the heals of a horse from the Tower to Smithfield. There he was hanged, but cut down before he was dead. His genitals were then cut off and stuffed in his mouth. He was then disemboweled. Even after all this he was still alive. He was then beheaded.

Even then they were not finished, his body was butchered into four parts. His head was dipped in tar to preserve it, before it was stuck on a spike on London Bridge.

He really must have upset Edward I.

Message don't mess with the British establishment!