Execution Dock

The "Execution Dock" was located on the Thames in the Wapping area of London, England, United Kingdom. It was used by the Admiralty for over 400 years (as late as 1830) to hang pirates that had been convicted by its courts and sentenced to die. The Admiralty only had jurisdiction over crimes on the sea, so the dock was located within their jurisdiction by being located far enough offshore as to be beyond the low-tide mark. It was used to kill the notorious Captain Kidd. Many prisoners would be executed together as a public event in front of a crowd of onlookers after being paraded from the Marshalsea Prison across the London Bridge and past the Tower of London to the dock.

The convicted were said to do the Marshal's dance because the rope was tied too short to break their necks, so they would 'dance' as they hung and slowly died of asphyxiation. The convicted were paired with a chaplain and encouraged to confess before their execution. After the ceremony, custom was to leave the now dead prisoners hanging so that three tides would wash over their heads before they were taken down. The more egregious offenders were then tarred and hung at Graves Point to warn sailors of what fate would await them if they were to pursue pirate ways. The bodies were tarred so that they would last longer, the tar being a deterrent to animals that would pick at the decaying bodies.

George Davis and William Watts were the final two people hanged for piracy at the docks on December 16 1830.

Execution Dock is located at Wapping Old Stairs, Wapping High Street which can be reached by following the cobbled alleyway alongside the Town of Ramsgate pub.

References

*cite book |title=The London Encyclopaedia|author=Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert|publisher= Macmillan|year= 1995|isbn =0-333-57688-8|pages=275