Site of Execution Dock
where pirates met the three tides
The Wapping riverside where pirates and mutineers were hanged for centuries, their bodies left for three tides to wash over.
Free to visit · Wapping · Wapping · E1W 2PN
Opening: Riverside viewable any time
For more than four hundred years this stretch of the Wapping riverside was Execution Dock, where the Admiralty hanged pirates, smugglers and mutineers convicted of crimes at sea. The gallows were deliberately set at the low-tide mark, and tradition demanded the bodies be left until three tides had washed over them, a grim warning to every sailor passing up the river.
The most famous victim was Captain Kidd, hanged here in 1701 after the rope broke on the first attempt. There is no original structure left, but a replica noose sometimes hangs by the river and a pub nearby bears Kidd's name. It is free to stand on the spot at low tide and imagine the crowds that once gathered on the foreshore.
Getting there: By the Thames in Wapping near the Captain Kidd pub, a short walk from Wapping station.
Best time to go: Low tide, when you can see the foreshore, on a walk along Wapping's old riverside.
Insider tip: Come at low tide and look from the Captain Kidd pub or the nearby stairs to see the foreshore where the gallows stood. The pub names and a replica noose nearby help mark the grisly spot.
Free things to do in London · London Free Guide