A BLACK STAIN ON OUR HISTORY

Easily missable, unless you know what you’re looking for, is a black smudge on the clock (pictured above) on the Horse Guards building in Whitehall. Legend says it marks the time – 2pm on a freezing January day in 1649 – when King Charles I was executed outside nearby Banqueting House. ‘Most of the onlookers were supporters of the monarchy so there were no cheers, only silence and then a terrible groan,’ says Katie Wignall. ‘Legend has it that the mark represents the black stain on the country’s history that the beheading caused.’