Here I am standing on the spot
where - over 400 years - thousands of people died from being hanged from the
neck until no breath was left in their bodies. Driving along the busy Tadcaster
Road the site it’s easy to miss. My SatNav announced I’d arrived but I could
see only houses and the traffic I was in - and lots of wholesome-looking
children walking home from school. I parked on a side street and went on foot
to find the deathly spot. I saw a man walking his boy home and asked where the
gallows had once stood. “It’s a bit of an anti-climax I’m afraid,” he said,
“It’s that spot there by the road near the sign.” I found a small paved areas
with a modest memorial stone.
Over two centuries ago this was a marshy,
unappealing spot. It was the location of the York Tyburn Tree - or gallows -
named after its sister near Marble Arch in London. It sits next to the horse
racecourse. Thousands of people attending the races would watch some hangings
before watching the horses. The were big beams supported a triangle known as
the 'Three-Legged Mare'. The first hanging took place in 1379 and the last in
1801. In a curious twist both the first and last executions were each of a
soldier found guilty of rape. The gallows used the 'short drop' method of
execution which meant death through slow strangulation.
Executions were a huge public spectacle and
people were encouraged to attend them to see the harsh public execution would
act as a deterrent. Criminals were dragged on sledges and later carried in a
cart beside their coffin. They were often quartered after death (the body cut
into four pieces). Some were beheaded than hanged. By 1801 having executions at
the city boundary was not a great way to create a good first impression for
visitors so the executions were moved to a spot near York Castle. This spot remained
unused for over a decade until they were finally removed in 1812 (in 1861
public executions were banned and hangings were carried out behind closed
doors.)
The first recorded execution at York Tyburn was
Edward Hewlson, aged 20, who was hanged on 31st March 1379 for raping Louisa
Bentley, a servant at York Castle. His corpse was hanged on a gibbet in the
field on the Sheriff Hutton road where his offence took place.
The most famous execution was that of highwayman
Dick Turpin for stealing three horses worth £37 in total. He spoke briefly to
the hangman with the noose around his neck and then threw himself to his death
from the ladder.
I took a few photos and a local chap said the
stone had been moved from the actual spot (reason unknown) but you can see from
the cement where the stone sat for a few years. I stood on it and wondered how
many thousands of howls of anguish, screams of terror and snaps of necks that
spot had witnessed. Thousands of people would have surrounded this spot
cheering, crying, yelling jeering and vomiting. I did a salute and left.
The street I had parked on was broad, quiet and lined with handsome
houses. I decided to stay the night. I had a shower, made a curry and ate it
while watching television. In the morning I strolled into central York and
explored the city before the world had woken up.
Stood on the actual spot of the gallows....