Smithfield Market: Executions, Body Snatchers, and Bloody Mary

hi everybody i'm back and today we're heading  into west smithfield formerly known as smoothfield   it's been a sight of butchery of animals  and human beings for over 1 000 years   now i'm going to go through the history of  the area but there's so much to see here so   just bear with me i didn't briefly mention saint  bartholomew's hospital and i'm going to show you   that right now in my previous old bailey tour  about execution sites but here it is right now   and i want to turn it around so you can see where  we are thanks for joining me you guys and by the   way you've been amazing the subscriptions are  fabulous the comments are amazing and i will try   to um i do the best i can to try to remark and  reply to all of your comments but thank you so   much for the support it means the world uh it's a  hot day in london today um it's in the high 30s so   we're looking at about 80 degrees but first let's  start today with saint bartholomew's hospital   now ladies and gents an incredible place has been  a hospital on this site for nearly 900 years saint   bartholomew's hospital was founded by a monk  called raheer in 1123. now here's a young chap   who's just graduated um as a medical student from  saint bart's but has been the center of care of   excellence for nearly uh it serves about 2.5  million londoners and it's specialists in cancer   care treatment in here as well there's an amazing  history with regards to the monk who founded it   11 23 he was a court jester to henry the  first and henry the first uh when his son died   uh went into uh well complete depression and right  here the monk headed off to on a holy pilgrimage   to jerusalem and he contacted malaria or  contracted malaria whilst on his travels   now whilst he was in a kind of delusional  sickness when he was nursed back to health um   the saint bartholomew came to him in a dream  and told him he wanted him to build a hospital   for the sick and the poor in london and what  he did was he ended up building this and the   saint bartholomew's church priory which is  also in the area so saint bartholomew's has   been massive history in london over the years  but i want to get back to the rather dark   history surrounding saint bartholomew's church  and that involves the surgeons now in the late   1800s and particularly around the 1700s  there was a lot of executions in this city   and bodies were plentiful as it were of the  executed bodies were used for anatomical research   but coming up more in the 19th century only  about 55 people a year were being hanged   because in the 1800s and 1700s people could  be hanged for stealing an apple which is quite   bizarre so what happened was the surgeons were in  desperate need of bodies for anatomical research   so they would pay top dollar to what we're  called the resurrectionists or the body   snatchers and just when we're coming up here on an  incredible street here it's called [ __ ] lane and   [ __ ] lane which is a rather bizarre name but in  the area we're heading towards smithfield's market   so there would have been a sight of butchery of  animals for years so you'll see cow cross lane   and [ __ ] lane and cow lane all in this area but  you'll see this little golden boy here the boy is   in the memoriam put up for the late great fire  of london because this is the furthest part that   the fire came so it started on pudding lane and  finished here on well it was originally pie lane   but now it's [ __ ] lane and this golden boy is to  represent the gluttony some people believe that uh   it was punishment from well from god from jesus  christ for the gluttonous and immoral behavior   of the people during the 1600s so but this was  also the location of a pub right on this site   called the fortune of war and the fortune of war  was used by resurrectionists and body snatchers   to display the dead bodies they would steal from  the graveyards and the surgeons from across here   in saint bartholomy's church would head into  the pub on the former site of the fortune of war   and literally peruse these dead  bodies and actually we can read it   out here i just want to read this for you  because this is very interesting history the boy at pie corner was erected to  commemorate the staying of the great fire   which beginning at pudding lane was ascribed  to the sin of gluttony were not attributed   to the papers as on the monument and the  boy was made pro prestige prodigiously fat   to enforce the moral he was originally built into  the front of a public house called the fortune   of war which used to be occupy the site and was  pulled down in 1910 so just bear with me one sec   so the fortune of war was the chief house of  call north of the river for resurrectionists   in body snatching days years ago the landlords  used to show the room where on benches around   the walls the bodies were placed labeled with  the snatchers names waiting till the surgeons   at saint bartholomew could run round and appraise  them so quite bizarre but of course after the very   famous birken hair case in edinburgh my colleague  margaret will be doing a tour of edinburgh shortly   and i'm sure she'll be mentioning birken hair they  were very famous body snatchers too however they   began killing people and their plot was uncovered  and that's when the anatomy act came in and that   forbade surgeons but now the center for excellence  but where are we now we're in smithfield's market   ladies and gentlemen now originally this was  called smooth fields and this is all an extension   of saint bartholomew's hospital and the reason  we're here is again execution ladies and gents   as i've previously mentioned  it's been a site of execution   for over 1 000 years and a site of butchery  of both animals and human beings smithfield   market itself is the largest wholesale meat  market in the country and has been trading here   for again over a thousand years but every  year in august you had a massive fair here   and it was called the saint bartholomew's fair and  that took place around the 23rd of august for two   and three days so it was originally also used  as a cloth fair so it was called a cloth fair   and right in the center here thousands of people  from all over the country would arrive and   they would bring their animals with them the  chicken and the geese and the ducks may have   to travel long journeys so they used to even  put little bits of cloth to protect their feet   as they came through the area so in this  area is where this massive fair took place   and that was the precise reason one of the most  famous executions of them all took place here   on the 23rd of august 1305. now this execution  you will all be familiar with and it was one   of the most brutal in british history  so you have various forms of execution   hanging we've spoken about but for the highest  form of treason your punishment was to be hung   drawn and quartered now this is not for the faint  hearted i'm going to be quite descriptive here   ladies and gents so if you are any bit squeamish  this is probably not the time to tune in but alas   you will see the scottish flag in the background  this was the execution site of william wallace   now william wallace was tried in westminster hall  in the palace of westminster he was found guilty   of treason the highest and um form of treason in  the land and he was sentenced to be executed here   during saint bartholomew's fair day the  reason for that is the king wanted to   make sure there was maximum exposure  and thousands and thousands of people   would see william wallace be executed now william  wallace was stripped naked at the tower of london   his feet were bound to a horse and cart  his body was dragged about a mile journey   along the rough road and his skin was shorn to  the bone when he arrived here when he did arrive waiting in agony the next form of execution only  begins and that is when they hang you within an   inch of your life and they hang you within an  inch of your life just enough to keep you alive   for the next part of the execution  and the next part of the execution   involved emasculating you they cut off his penis  and his testicles and then they burnt them in   front of them and then they carve a hole in your  stomach ladies and gents when they carve that hole   they finally remove your intestines and then  he they quartered him and sent him to four   different parts of scotland his head was boiled  in tar and was put on a spike on london bridge so   pretty brutal but not only was william wallace  executed here at smithfield's market and there   is the stunning sir horace jones building so if  you're enjoying the tour so far go ahead and hit   the like button it helps others discover the video  if you'd like to see more videos like this one   subscribe to our channel we have walks along  the thames through westminster camden all over   london visit our website for more about our  tours our travel tips and more we also have   virtual tours and channels that focus on dc new  orleans new york and more look for free tours   by foot wherever you travel you can support your  guide with virtual tips links in the description   and let us know what else you want to see leave  a comment below now back to the tour you'll be   familiar with sir horace jones when if you  watched my leaden hall market tour this is a   victorian building again he built billingsgate  fish market and smithfield's meat market   you'll wonder why there's no butchers around the  area because they work through the night you guys   it opens up they open up their meat market  at two o'clock and they're all done by   seven in the morning and that's why interestingly  if you're ever looking for a late drink in london   all these pubs some of these pubs will open at  midnight to facilitate the butchers in the area   but you see this site right in the middle  here ladies and gentlemen going to walk   right inside and this is actually quite scary it  always terrifies me in here this is probably one   of the most haunted places in london around here  was the favorite execution site of bloody mary and   bloody mary it's estimated she burned up to 280  people alive at the stake right in the center here   of smithfield's market now bloody mary was  mary the first never scheduled to be queen she was the daughter of catherine of  aragon the first wife of henry viii   and she was the famous catholic queen and  when henry viii had a son with jane seymour   she was effectively banished from court and she  lived the life of a princess with her sister   elizabeth the first but she was also banned from  seeing her mother so during the reformation and   the um instigation of protestantism if you like  by henry viii when he couldn't divorce her mother   thomas cranmer actually orchestrated that  divorce if you like and she would later get   a revenge against him uh he married amber lin  and he had elizabeth the first but when henry   viii died edward vi his son took over now he  was a very young king and he only lived till   the age of 15 so that's when mary the first came  into power and she was the famous catholic queen   so she burned about 280 protestants as she  called them heretics alive at the stake here   bloody mary is her nickname and she was so brutal  she insisted redwood wasn't used because there was   a danger you would asphyxiate before you felt  the flames burning and tearing at your flesh 280 of them she burned alive here rumor has it  that she was so brutal she used to put little   kittens 300 kittens in the middle of the wood so  that the kittens screaming in agony when dying   of being burnt alive would represent the souls  of the devil bringing the heretics to hell   so not only has it been a sight of butchery  for animals the most famous execution william   wallace also bloody mary's execution site but they  also found remains of bodies from the black death   here over the years and this is the meat market  themselves and it's a stunning stunning building   so you'll see some rather bizarre names around  the area as well like of the names of the pubs   the butcher's hook so let me just take you  in here the smell isn't for the faint-hearted   um but it it has been trading as i mentioned  for over a thousand years now there's rumors   and i have seen this quite a bit actually that  it's going to be moving out and apparently this   space is going to be occupied by the museum of  london so what an incredible place because if   you follow down you'll come down here towards  farringdon station and farringdon station is   going to benefit now from the crossrail the  new crossrail train extension in london which   is going to literally bring people from the  east and the west right here to the station   so it's going to be a major transportation  hub but look at this exceptional building   i mean this is horace jones again i mean it's not  difficult to see the comparisons between horace   jones's work here and smithfield and billingsgate  but there has been rumors over the years   that the several butchers have said they  can smell burning flesh at nighttime it's   very haunted in the area they say that uh ghosts  have been seen and you can hear screams of bodies   at nighttime and the screams of people being burnt  alive at the stake so definitely one of the most   haunted places in london now that annual fare as i  mentioned did take place and thousands of animals   would meet their end in this market this butcher's  market there's some of the old telephone boxes so   let me just show you around again but what's quite  interesting as well is that people themselves that   were being executed they believed the more extreme  the punishment or the more extreme the pain they   experienced during execution the quicker they  were to get into heaven and the most likely they   were now when you head down this street here it's  going to bring you down towards farringdon station   now of course it is very close to the city  of london so in fact it has now become   an amazing place to eat now can you imagine  and the amount of fresh meat that you would be   the beautiful restaurants here there's so  many michelin star restaurants along the way   but of course your source of your  butchers is right around your the corner so they're supplied every day with the meat at  the meat market but it's become very trendy down   here but look at this beautiful laneway you guys  so this takes you right down towards farringdon   station now what i like to think of is the  hundreds of thousands of sheep arriving here   up to this area and the cows would travel for  miles being brought here for the fair days   losing considerable amounts of weight in the  smithfield market area as well i read recently   you could actually sell your wife men would  come to sell their wives when they've had   essentially enough for them they  weren't allowed to divorce them   so what could they do and they sell them on  to the highest bidder so men would actually   come to the area too to sell their wives now  this area features very heavily by the way   in our ghost tour of london which is usually  conducted by my wonderful colleague matt   so there you have it ladies and gents smithfield  market and it brings you all the way down here   towards farringdon station now you can also  approach it like i did this morning this afternoon   rather from saint paul's and the market itself  for meat operates monday to friday from 2am in the   morning till 7am so you'll know where to go if you  want to get your your steaks so your lamb cuts etc   now it is monday so there isn't enough leather  drinkers around this is uh apparently today   is freedom day where everybody is allowed to all  the restrictions have been lifted including mask   wearing the less opinions i have on that  i think the better but my freedom day is   coming on friday you guys i am heading to  ireland for 10 days so i'm more than happy   to bring hello video camera with me i thought  i might do a little video ladies and gents   around my hometown in ireland which is  the beautiful killarney county kerry   lakes and mountains so very different than london  so if you would like the idea of that just give   me a yes at the bottom of this video um it might  not be for you but uh i know a lot of you when you   do travel back to the uk you will be heading to  ireland and killarney is one of the top tourist   destinations in ireland because it's that pretty  there this is another beautiful famous pub and   there you have cow cross street and that will take  you right back up there towards smithfield market   one of the most famous execution sites in  london so one more to do i will be bringing   you to see the tiber and gallows and we  will be heading also towards tower hill   but in the meantime i'm going to finish up right  here you guys time to do another jack the ripper   tonight thank you again for watching i'm doing  a little shorter videos because i want you to learn a bit more about execution in  the city so they'll be about 15 minutes   and i'll just show you some of these  buildings down here as i'm finishing up   but farmington serves the metropolitan  line this was one of the very   very first stations in london and the  underground here in london established   in 1863 is the oldest underground rail  network in the world the prototype for undergrounds all over the world in fact  but i'll just take you down you'll see   farrington road here there's an amazing  selection of restaurants again down here   sorry i am going to finish up very shortly i just  want to get away from the noise there for a minute   but i just want to let you know i am heading  home i will be bringing the camera with me i   will be doing some videos in killarney county  kerry but more importantly i want to thank   you most sincerely for all your support  your subscriptions your fabulous comments   this is a great ride for me too i'm  enjoying every minute of it you guys   many many more videos coming up so please if  you know anyone that you think would enjoy   our tours please don't hesitate to get them  to subscribe share share share like the more   subscriptions we get the more tours we make and  thank you again because some of you have been   absolutely overly generous with your donations on  paypal i have more than enough for the moment for   my gin in ireland but there's always room for  more so if you want to leave me a little tip   you're more than welcome to do so on my paypal or  buy me a coffee but more importantly you joining   me is even more important again so thank you  very much you guys and i will be back very soon

Channel: Free Tours by Foot - London

Views: 80,173

Keywords: smithfield market, smithfield market london, smithfield, london walking tour, smithfield meat market, london history clerkenwell, medieval walking tour london, medieval london streets, william wallace, william wallace death, william wallace execution, london walk, walking in london, london

Id: fRby8msd0aQ

Length: 22min 5sec (1325 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 05 2021