During the Middle Ages, the West Smithfield area of London was used as a place of public execution where heretics, rebels and criminals were burnt, beheaded or boiled. One of the most famous executions to take place in the area was that of Scottish hero Sir William Wallace whose memorial plaque can be found near the entrance to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London. Wallace was a Scottish patriot who became the ‘Guardian of Scotland’ while fighting for Scotland’s independence until his capture and execution in 1305 by King Edward I of England. Following his trial at Westminster Hall in London, Wallace was immediately dragged to the site of his execution by a team of horses, and then hanged just until he was semi-conscious. He was then castrated, disemboweled, quartered, and beheaded. Wallace’s memorial plaque reads: ‘His example of heroism and devotion inspired those who came after him to win victory from defeat and his memory remains for all time a source of pride, honor and inspiration to his countrymen’. William Wallace was most recently immortalized in the 1995 Mel Gibson film ‘Braveheart’.
- William Wallace Memorial
- West Smithfield, London EC1A 9BD
- www.cityoflondon.gov.uk
- Underground: St. Paul’s, Barbican, or Farringdon