Tower Hill Execution Memorial

Who was executed on Tower Hill?

The names listed on the Tower Hill memorial include some of the most powerful people in the country. From rebel conspirators, religious martyrs and ambitious courtiers swept up in royal plots and schemes, these notable men met their end on Tower Hill.

Only two women are known to have been executed on Tower Hill – Charlotte Gardiner and Mary Roberts, who were sentenced to death for participating in the Gordon Riots in 1780. However, Katherine Truerniet was one of three people executed for murder at nearby East Smithfield or 'Little Tower Hill' in 1700.

The Peasants’ Revolt: The Earliest Tower Hill Executions

The earliest executions recorded on the Tower Hill monument took place in 1381. Executions did take place outside the Tower before this date; however, their exact locations are not confirmed. Unlike later executions, the deaths recorded in 1381 were part of the medieval ‘Peasants’ Revolt’, a rebellion which sought to remove and punish the noblemen who ruled England on behalf of 14-year-old King Richard II.

The rebels breached the Tower gates and dragged Simon Sudbury, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Robert Hales, the Treasurer, from the Chapel of St John to be beheaded on Tower Hill. Sudbury’s head was mounted on London Bridge.

The first official execution at Tower Hill took place in 1388 with the death of Sir Simon de Burley. Over the next 400 years, many famous figures met their fate in the shadow of the Tower of London.

Sir Thomas More

Executed 6 July 1535

Thomas More was an English lawyer, diplomat, and Lord High Chancellor of England. He was imprisoned inside the Tower by Henry VIII for refusing to recognise the King as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. In his final speech, More declared himself 'the King’s good servant but God’s first'. He was beheaded on Tower Hill.

George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford

Executed 17 May 1536

George Boleyn was a courtier, nobleman and the elder brother of Henry VIII’s second Queen, Anne Boleyn. George was accused by Anne’s enemies at court of committing adultery and incest with his sister. He was found guilty and beheaded on Tower Hill. As a former Queen, Anne was granted a more private execution inside the fortress on Tower Green two days later.

Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex

Executed 28 July 1540

Thomas Cromwell was Henry VIII’s chief minister and was once one of the most powerful men in England. Despite earning the King’s forgiveness for arranging a misjudged marriage alliance with Henry’s fourth Queen, Anne of Cleves, Cromwell’s enemies convinced the King that his minister was conspiring against him. Although Cromwell pleaded for ‘mercy, mercy, mercy’, he was beheaded on Tower Hill.

Lord Guilford Dudley

Executed 12 February 1554

Dudley was husband to Lady Jane Grey, the so-called ‘Nine Day Queen’. Dudley’s marriage to Jane was arranged by their parents, who hoped to claim the English throne after the death of Edward VI. However, this claim was overthrown by Mary I, daughter of Katherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. Dudley and Jane were imprisoned separately at the Tower before being put on trial and sentenced to death – Dudley on Tower Hill and Jane on Tower Green.

Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat

Executed 9 April 1747

A Scottish clan leader and Jacobite, Fraser worked as a double agent in support of a Stuart restoration against the ruling Hanoverian 'Georgian' royal family. His execution was so crowded that a viewing stand collapsed and killed several people. Fraser was the last person in Britain to be publicly beheaded.

The End of Tower Hill Executions

By the 1750s, most public executions had moved across London to the Tyburn Gallows (near Marble Arch). The last executions at Tower Hill took place in 1780 with the hanging of three members of the Gordon riots, including Charlotte Gardiner and Mary Roberts.