Town Moor, gallows

HER Number

6509

District

Newcastle

Site Name

Town Moor, gallows

Place

Newcastle

Map Sheet

NZ26SW

Class

Civil

Site Type: Broad

Legal Site

Site Type: Specific

Gallows

General Period

MEDIEVAL

Specific Period

Medieval 1066 to 1540

Form of Evidence

Documentary Evidence

Description

Criminals were taken along Gallowgate to the gallows on the Town Moor (Castle Leazes HER 1358) near Fenham Barracks (HER 4093), where between 1650 and 1829 44 people were executed. The last execution on the Town Moor was on Friday 23 August 1844 when Mark Sherwood was hanged for the murder of his wife Ann.

Easting

423850

Northing

564900

Grid Reference

NZ423850564900

Sources

D. Lovie, 1997, The Buildings of Grainger Town; Jack and John Leslie, 2003, Down our streets - Newcastle's street names explored, p 22; P Winter, D Milne, J Brown, A Rushworth, 1989, Northern Heritage - Newcastle upon Tyne, p 116; Rob Kirkup, 2009, Ghostly Tyne and Wear, pages 100-102; Nigel Green, 2009, Tough Times & Grisly Crimes, pages 3 - 5