Public Executions in England: How a Hanging Became Entertainment

The past never stays buried. Enter The Rushworth Chronicles and uncover mysteries, secrets, forgotten lives, and the human cost of history. Click to begin the journey.

A Society Built on Fear

Public executions were not hidden from society. Thousands gathered to witness punishment, turning justice into a public spectacle.

Public executions in England were once among the largest public gatherings of their time. Long before television, crowds travelled for miles to witness criminals face the gallows, turning punishment into a form of entertainment.

In 17th Century Yorkshire, there were over two hundred capital offences that could lead to the death sentence, many of them no more than petty theft. The popularity of using the noose to dispense with those who engaged in these crimes was at its peak.

If an adult was found stealing goods worth more than thirteen and a half shillings (£70 or a week’s wages), then there was a good possibility that they would end up visiting the gallows at Tyburn in York. A child aged between 7-14 with strong evidence of wrongdoing could also be subject to such a penalty depending on the decision of the magistrate at the Court of Assizes.

Public Executions in England: How a Hanging Became Entertainment

The Tyburn site was used by the Crown's justice, administered at York Castle. Its gallows consisted of a wooden triangle standing on three wooden pillars - known as the 'Three-Legged Mare'. The location was the scene of executions for more than 400 years and today is now marked by a plaque at the site.

Execution day was a big, rowdy event - criminals were a spectacle as they were driven from York Castle Prison to the gallows, sitting on top of their coffins with the noose around their necks. Special newspapers were printed to inform spectators of the names and crimes of those to be hanged and usually a large crowd would attend which would block the road leading to York. From 1830 until 1862 executions were conducted on a Saturday to allow more people to attend. Finally, the gallows were moved to York Castle itself to free up one of the major roads into the city.

From Highwayman to Condemned Man

History remembered the highwayman. Step inside the cell where Dick Turpin awaited his fate. Click to enter.

This cramped stone cell is believed to be where the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin spent his final days before execution in York in 1739. Far removed from the romantic image later created by novels and folklore, Turpin shared this small space with two other prisoners, enduring the cold, darkness, and uncertainty that accompanied imprisonment in 18th-century England. The reality was far less glamorous than the legend. Behind the stories of daring robberies and midnight rides was a condemned man waiting for the gallows, confined within walls smaller than a modern room and facing the same fear and isolation experienced by countless forgotten prisoners of the period.

Continue the Journey: See the First Ever Likeness of Dick Turpin

Every story leads to another.

Dick Turpin's capture was not the dramatic horseback chase later imagined by popular folklore. By the late 1730s, the infamous highwayman was living under the false name of John Palmer in Yorkshire. His downfall came not through a daring confrontation but through suspicion and a simple act of pride. After shooting a neighbour's rooster, Turpin drew unwanted attention to himself. Local authorities began asking questions, and his true identity slowly emerged.

Arrested and imprisoned in York Castle, Turpin found himself confined to a small stone cell shared with two other prisoners. The man celebrated in ballads as a fearless outlaw now faced the same harsh reality as countless ordinary criminals awaiting trial and execution.

On 7 April 1739, Dick Turpin was led to the gallows at York. Contemporary accounts suggest he arrived dressed in fine clothes, reportedly purchasing a new frock coat and shoes for the occasion. Thousands gathered to witness the event. Public executions in 18th-century England were major spectacles, drawing crowds eager to see justice carried out before their eyes.

Dick Turpin spent his final days in a small cell like this before being led to the gallows at York on 7 April 1739. The legend of the highwayman would live on, but here he was simply a condemned man waiting for his fate. Click to continue the journey.

History would later transform Turpin into a romantic folk hero, famous for adventures that were largely invented long after his death. The reality was far less glamorous. His final journey ended not on the open road but on the scaffold, where a condemned man stood before a crowd and met the same fate as many others whose names have since been forgotten.

Turpin's story continues to echo through Yorkshire's history and folklore, which is one reason it appears in my novel The Lost Voices. The novel explores lives often overlooked by official history and the stories that continue to haunt the landscapes where they unfolded. Long after the crowd dispersed from the execution ground, the memory of Turpin's fate remained woven into the county's collective memory, becoming part of the larger story of Yorkshire itself.

The Evolution of the Noose

In 1861 the Criminal Law Consolidation Act was passed by Parliament reducing the number of crimes for which the gallows could be used. These included arson in a royal dockyard, treason, piracy and murder.

Prior to this, hanging was carried out using the short drop method where death occurred by strangulation and not by the snapping of the neck as is believed. The law stated that the person found guilty should be hanged by the neck ‘until dead’ but often this was not an instantaneous ending. Hanging by strangulation is not immediate and in some cases the victim could be twitching and kicking for two or three minutes, sometimes longer.

In the early 1800’s the method of hanging came under scrutiny and it was believed that the ‘long drop method’ was a more humane way of carrying out the act. Rather than a long period of suffering, it was hoped that the long drop method would cause instantaneous snapping of the vertebrae in the neck, but at times this came with its own set of problems. Such as the one hour and eleven minutes it took for Canadian Antonio Sprecage to die in 1919 or the hanging of a man by the name of Goodale whose head was ripped completely from his body.

In 1885 John Lee was sentenced to hang and the attempt failed three times due to rain causing the planks in the trap door to swell and not open. John Lee’s execution was stalled and he ended up living a long life.

History remembered the execution. It often forgot the people standing beneath the noose.

In Britain, it wasn’t until 1965 that hanging was suspended as the death penalty and a further four years before it was finally abolished; however, even after this hanging could still be used for treason, piracy with violence, arson in a royal dockyard and certain crimes under the jurisdiction of the armed forces. Finally, in 1999 all forms of the death penalty were no longer used in Britain after the ratification of the 6th protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights

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For many women in 17th-century Yorkshire, survival came at a price. Click to continue the journey.

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Enter The Thomas Rushworth Chronicles

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Paul Rushworth-Brown is the author of five novels:

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