At the western end of Oxford Street, one of London's busiest shopping streets, there is a place of real contrast to the consumer worship of the big retailers.

Marble Arch was the site of the infamous Tyburn Gallows, also known as the Tyburn Tree. There were public executions here from 1196 to 1783.

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, in 1571, the famous Triple Gallows was set up which could mean more than 20 hangings could happen at once.

Every Monday for the last 200 years or so of its existence, condemned men and women travelled the route through London from Newgate to Tyburn, to their place of public execution.

The Tyburn tree was removed in 1759 but was replaced by movable gallows when a toll-house was built on the site for the turnpike road. In the 18th century Oxford Street was called Tyburn Road and Park Lane was Tyburn Lane. By around 1780 Oxford Street was fully built-up as a residential area and the last public execution here was in 1783.

At the junction of Edgware Road and Bayswater Road, a circular plaque on a traffic island marks the spot where around 50,000 criminals were hung between 1300 and 1783.

Tyburn Martyrs

During the Reformation, Catholics were hanged as traitors and the Tyburn Convent has a Shrine to perpetuate the memory of the 105 Catholic Martyrs of the Reformation period who died here between 1535 and 1681.

The Shrine of the Sacred Heart is a place of international pilgrimage and keeps alive the memory.

Prophecy

In 1585 Gregory Gunne predicted that one day a religious house would be founded at Tyburn. His prediction was fulfilled when Tyburn Convent was established in 1903.

A house was bought on Hyde Park Place in 1902, close to the execution site, and handed over the following year to a homeless order of French nuns. The Tyburn Convent was established along with the shrine to the martyrs. The nuns started to collect relics to display including bone fragments and bloodied scraps of fabric that had been saved from the bodies at the gallows and passed down through families.

A Visit

Pilgrims and tourists from all over the world visit the Shrine of the Martyrs at Tyburn. There are daily tours of the shrine available at 10.30, 3.30pm and 5.30pm. You can just turn up if you are in the area but if you are planning a special journey it is best to contact the convent in advance in case they have a private tour booked.

Upon arrival you can't just walk in as there is a locked gate to go down to the Martyr's Crypt and you need to be escorted by a Sister. The shrine is a simply furnished chapel in the basement of the convent.

Over the altar there is a large reconstruction of the Tyburn gibbet, although smaller than the real thing. And the displays on the walls include two small splinters that are thought to be from the actual Tyburn gallows.

On the tour you will see two panels of stained glass windows, the work of Margaret Rope, which depict scenes from the life of the martyrs. The first panel combines incidents of the martyrs and the works of mercy. The second panel concentrates on the beatitudes as found in the lives of these martyrs.

As IanVisits points out, as with most religious buildings, its a very calm and peaceful room, even though the walls are lined with the mementos of murder and suffering.

Tyburn Convent

This is an enclosed Benedictine order which means the nuns never leave. I found the young Sister who showed us around the Martyr's Crypt was welcoming and knowledgeable.

Address:

Tyburn Convent
8 Hyde Park Place
Bayswater
London W2 2LJ

Website:www.tyburnconvent.org.uk

You can see the River Tyburn nearby, inside an antiques shopping center.