Inside the Church of St. Sepulchre without Newgate, at Holborn Viaduct, a hand bell known as the Execution Bell, resides in a glass case, situated near the entrance of a blocked-up tunnel that once connected the church with Newgate Prison. At midnight prior to execution days, the church’s bellman would walk through the tunnel and into the prison. Standing outside the cells of condemned prisoners, he would ring twelve double tolls of the bell and chant their condemnation. The church is also rich in its own history. John Rogers, once a vicar of this church, had been the first Protestant burned at the stake, during the reign of Mary Tudor. The remains of Captain John Smith, early leader at Jamestown, Virginia, lie buried in the church’s cemetery. Inside the church is a brass plaque dedicated to this famous explorer.
