Marble Arch
Park Lane, London W1

Marble Arch, designed by John Nash in 1828, was based on Rome's Arch of Constantine.

Originally intended to be the entrance to Buckingham Palace, the monument was found to be too narrow for the grandest coaches and was moved here in 1851 to become the gateway to Hyde Park. 

Now marooned on a traffic island Marble Arch marks the western extent of Oxford Street.   Only senior members of the Royal Family and one of the artillery regiments are allowed to pass beneath it.

Marble Arch stands near the site of the old Tyburn gallows, which is marked by a plaque.  From 1388 to 1793, when executions moved to outside Newgate Prison, London's most notorious criminals were hanged here in front of huge crowds of bloodthirsty spectators. 

The first permanent gallows, set up at Tyburn in 1571, could dispatch up to 24 prisoners at a time.  It was hoped that public hangings would act as a deterrent to law-breakers but they had the opposite effect.  Criminals were often glamourised by the populace and the prisoners progress from Newgate Prison to Tyburn, along present-day Oxford Street, could resemble a triumphal procession. 

Samuel Pepys, the diaryist, was present at the hanging of Colonel Turner in 1664 and paid a one shilling to stand on a cartwheel for a better view.   In 1714 an estimated 200,000 people gathered to watch the execution of the infamous criminal Jack Shepherd. 

During the 18th century a grandstand, known as 'Mother Proctor's Pews', was erected here and made its owner a fortune.  Last-minute reprieves would often result in riots when the crowds were denied their fun. 

In 1868 the unseemly behaviour of the crowds finally forced the government to move executions inside Newgate Prison until it was demolished in 1902, to make way for the Old Bailey, executions took place in other London jails.  The last execution in the UK took place in 1964.