Red
Lion Square, in the heart of the West End of London, is reputedly haunted by
three famous parliamentary ghosts - Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry
Ireton.
The
three men were originally buried at Westminster Abbey in the seventeenth
century, but after the Restoration they were dug up and put on trial in
Westminster Hall. All three were found guilty of killing or conspiring to kill
King Charles I and sentenced to be hung, drawn and quartered, despite the fact
that they were already dead. The decaying bodies were dragged to the gallows,
where they were hung and beheaded, and their remains were flung into a pit.
The
field where they were eventually buried has now become Red Lion Square, and
the ghostly threesome have been seen walking across the square, deep in
conversation.
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