Executions.

Theresa Green

Well-Known Forumite
In 1606 Steven Littleton was executed in Stafford for his part in the Gunpowder Plot

Whereabouts did this take place?


Stafford Gaol wasn’t built until nearly 200 years after this hanging

My bet is either outside Stanton’s or at Harry Fenton’s
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
In 1606 Steven Littleton was executed in Stafford for his part in the Gunpowder Plot

Whereabouts did this take place?


Stafford Gaol wasn’t built until nearly 200 years after this hanging

My bet is either outside Stanton’s or at Harry Fenton’s
For the period of the half-century before the current prison was built, executions are stated to have taken place at Sandyford, which may mean the area between Crooked Bridge Road and Peel Terrace. What the arrangements were in 1606 is anybody's guess, in the absence of documentary evidence.
 

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
In 1606 Steven Littleton was executed in Stafford for his part in the Gunpowder Plot

Whereabouts did this take place?


Stafford Gaol wasn’t built until nearly 200 years after this hanging

My bet is either outside Stanton’s or at Harry Fenton’s
The former gaol was, believe it or not, in Gaol Square / top end of Gaolgate Street.

However, it is likely that Stephen Littleton was drawn down, from there, to Market Square for his gruesome execution.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Previous discussion of the Sandyford executions here -

 

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
The thing with Stephen Littleton was that he wasn't just hung, he was drawn, hung and quartered (although it is more often referred to as 'hung, drawn and quartered'), so it is thought that the execution wouldn't be where (just) hangings took place.

With this gruesome method of execution it was traditional to draw them through the streets, from the gaol, to the public place of execution and Market Square was ideal for packing in a crowd.

Fortunately, this type of execution was extremely rare in Staffordshire.
 

Theresa Green

Well-Known Forumite
The thing with Stephen Littleton was that he wasn't just hung, he was drawn, hung and quartered (although it is more often referred to as 'hung, drawn and quartered'), so it is thought that the execution wouldn't be where (just) hangings took place.

With this gruesome method of execution it was traditional to draw them through the streets, from the gaol, to the public place of execution and Market Square was ideal for packing in a crowd.

Fortunately, this type of execution was extremely rare in Staffordshire.
Hanged. Not Hung

Paintings are hung, Conservative politicians want to hang you
 

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
drawn, hung and quartered
Or drawn, hanged, drawn & quartered. Often drawn to the point of execution on a hurdle, hanging until not quite head, intestines drawn out of the body & burned, then head cut off and body hacked into quarters. Nice jolly day out to watch the execution.
 

proactive

Enjoying a drop of red.
Or drawn, hanged, drawn & quartered. Often drawn to the point of execution on a hurdle, hanging until not quite head, intestines drawn out of the body & burned, then head cut off and body hacked into quarters. Nice jolly day out to watch the execution.
Is this new government policy for immigration? If so it'll go down very well with the good folk of Stafford.
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Meat is hung.

People are hanged. I don't know why @The Hawk is unclear about the order.

There are two ways to be hanged - one is to be hanged by the neck until dead, which is why the judge will still explicitly state it as such into the 20thC. The other is to be hanged, drawn and quartered.

If you are to be hanged, drawn, and quartered you are first to be hanged by the neck until almost dead - then you are to be cut down still alive, then you are to be drawn by a meat hook from sternum to below the belly, so your innards will spill onto the gallows platform. If time and circumstances allow, your intestines will then be thrown onto a fire as you watch.

If your executioner is one for performance, he will then reach in and grasp your heart, rip it out, and hold it aloft in front of his eager crowd, proclaiming 'Behold, the heart of a Traitor!'.

You will almost certainly be dead somewhere by this point. Your earthly remains will then be chopped in half lengthways, then again through the middle to render you into quarters.

One quarter will go N, one S, one E, one W, and your head will normally spend a bit of time on London Bridge. Pour encourage les autres, sort of thing.

As to current Conservative policy, wouldn't massively surprise me if its promised return weren't a vote winner in the Shires.
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
If you look at Speed's map of 1610 -

John-Speeds-town-plan-of-Stafford-1610-published-in-1676-by-Bassett-and-Chiswell.ppm


- the North Gate was by then the town Gaol (jail), hence Gaolgate Street.

Littleton would almost certainly have spent his last days there, somewhere on the roundabout of doom one would have thought looking at the map.

I agree with @The Hawk that it was more likely that a high profile public execution would have taken place in Market Sq. It's probably more likely that he was made to walk there though, what?
 

The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
Meat is hung.

People are hanged. I don't know why @The Hawk is unclear about the order.
I'm not unclear about the order. It is the drawn bit that seems to be misunderstood. It used to refer to the act of tying the prisoner to a board and drawing (dragging) them backwards, from the gaol, through the streets, to the place of execution, so the order was referred to as drawn, hanged and quartered.

In modern times the term has been twisted into hanged, drawn and quartered, so people have come to interpret the 'drawn' bit to refer the disembowelling part.

Maybe it should be called 'drawn, hanged, drawn and quartered'.

Amazingly many court proceedings, from the 17th century, are online (although the Internet must have been slow in those days|) Here is an extract of an account of the execution of Thomas Castle in 1690:

"On Friday the 24th of this Instant October, Thomas Castle alias Cassey, Thomas Rowland and Mercy Harvey, were all conveyed to the Place of Execution (the other nine being at present Reprieved by their Majesties Clemency) Thomas Castle being drawn on a Sledge"
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
If this happened in Stafford, you might imagine that it would be better recorded.

It would have been a noteworthy spectacle and might be 'living' on on some form, around the November the Fifth celebrations?

I will now be careful to watch no more Badly Drawn Boy videos, just in case...
 

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
I'm not unclear about the order. It is the drawn bit that seems to be misunderstood.
You appear to be in thrall to a Mortimer, a notorious traitor. The order of march is quite clear.

In fact, it is the same Mortimer who proposes the inclusion of the decreased length of member you ^allude to that becomes part of the process.

Littleton was at least as likely to be tied to the back of a wagon as to have been 'drawn' by one. He was most definitely cut open by a knife, drawn from his sternum to his nethers.

This is a weird argument.
 
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The Hawk

Well-Known Forumite
You appear to be in thrall to a Mortimer, a notorious traitor. The order of march is quite clear.

In fact, it is the same Mortimer who proposes the inclusion of the decreased length of member you ^allude to that becomes part of the process.

Littleton was at least as likely to be tied to the back of a wagon as to have been 'drawn' by one. He was most definitely cut open by a knife, drawn from his sternum to his nethers.

This is a weird argument.
Here you go again, another extract from Old Bailey proceedings for 15 October 1690:
The Tryals being over, the Court proceeded to give Sentence as followeth,

Burnt in the Hand 9.

John Stephens , John Clarke , David Floyd , George Brock , Richard James , James Hammond , L - R - , Thomas Dant and James Batrone .

To be Transported, 2

Henry Chawke and Anne Brassbey .

To be Whipt 3.

Margaret Kelly , Elizabeth Vaughan and Anne Griscal .

Received Sentence of Death 12.

M - H - , Constance Wainwright , John Lowbridge , Jane Eaton , Katharine Jones, Anne Henderson , Thomas Castle alias Cassey, Peter Vallard , Bryant Cane , Thomas Rowland , Thomas Rogers , and Anne Rogers his Wife.

Thomas Castle , Peter Vallard and Thomas Rogers , were ordered to be Drawn upon a Sledge to the place of Execution, to be hanged by the Neck, cut down alive, their Bowels burnt, their Bodies quartered, and to be disposed of at their Majesties pleasure. And Anne Rogers was ordered to be burnt alive.
 

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Do we know where the two were transported to?

It seems a little early for Australia.

Presumably Ireland, Scotland or New England?
 
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