Marble Arch stands at the northeast corner of Hyde Park, a gleaming triumphal arch stranded on a traffic island like a wedding cake abandoned at a roundabout. John Nash designed it in 1827 as a grand entrance to Buckingham Palace, but it proved too narrow for the state coach and was quietly relocated here in 1851.

The spot it occupies has a grimmer history: this was Tyburn, London's principal execution site for over 600 years. A plaque on the traffic island marks where the "Tyburn Tree" gallows stood, its triangular frame capable of hanging 24 people simultaneously. An estimated 50,000 met their end here, from common thieves to Catholic martyrs, often before crowds who turned executions into raucous public holidays.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours trace this macabre history beneath the arch's elegant facade, connecting Tyburn's grim spectacles to the emergence of Speakers' Corner nearby, where the tradition of public address replaced the condemned's final words.