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Start · St Giles's Fields, London · 1586
The Young Poet Who Wrote His Own Epitaph in the TowerChidiock Tichborne joined the Babington Plot, was caught with a bad leg, and wrote a poem to his wife the night before he was hanged, drawn and quartered. It is still read.
same spot · St Giles Fields, Holborn, London · 1586
The Execution That Started a RiotA plot against the Queen ended so brutally on the scaffold that public revulsion reached the throne, and Elizabeth changed the sentence for the men who followed.
534 m on · Covent Garden, London · 1670
The Highwayman Who Danced With His VictimsA charming French robber turned holdups into theatre — until wine and a tavern brawl finally caught up with him.
546 m on · London · 1858
The Asylum Dickens Wanted For His WifeThe beloved author of A Christmas Carol tried to have his sane wife declared mad to be rid of her.
same spot · London · 1891
The Battlefield Origin Of Biting The BulletBefore anaesthesia, wounded men bit down on lead to endure the surgeon's knife, or so the grim legend says.
same spot · London · 1611
The Forgotten Poet Who Defended EveShe became the first Englishwoman to publish an original book of poetry, then history erased her almost entirely.
same spot · London · 1562
The Lady Who Caught the Queen's SmallpoxShe nursed a dying queen back to health and paid for it with her own face.
same spot · London · 1767
The Midwife Who Tortured Her ApprenticesA respectable London midwife tortured the orphan girls in her care in a case that horrified Georgian London.
same spot · London · 1483
The Mistress Forced to Walk BarefootA king's beautiful mistress was publicly humiliated to break her before she ever reached a scaffold.
same spot · London · 1536
The Musician Twisted Into a False ConfessionA young lute player was dragged to a private room and tortured until he named a queen as his lover.
Coordinates mark the place of each story, and some are approximate. Check opening times and access before you go.