156: Smithfield: London’s Theatre of Public Execution

Hazel Baker introduces Smithfield (West Smithfield near St Bartholomew’s Hospital and Smithfield Meat Market) as a deceptively ordinary open space that for centuries served both as a major market/fairground and a prominent execution site used to project state and church power. With tour guide Maria Alexe’s commentary, the episode traces Smithfield’s execution history from William Wallace’s…