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Execution Dock

Although the rewards of piracy could be great, the punishment for convicted pirates was to dance the hempen jig, the pirates term for being hung. The hanging was a public event which, in London, always took place at Execution Dock at Wapping. The convicted pirates were taken from the Marshalsea Prison or Newgate in a procession led by an officer carrying the silver oar, which symbolized the authority of the High Court of the Admiralty, to the wooden gallows at the low-tide mark. After a sermon from the chaplain the pirate was allowed to address the crowd before being executed. After execution the bodies were left until three tides had passed over them. The most famous pirate to be executed here was Captain Kidd. The nearest Tube station is Wapping

Located at: Wapping High Street, Wapping, London, E1

Telephone: n/a

Opens: n/a

Cost: n/a

Closest Subway Station: N/A (Click to see more atrraction at this station)