The Tyburn Tree, York

 

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.

 

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Stood on the actual spot of the gallows....

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