In the late 18th century many counties in England and Wales constructed new county gaols to replace their dilapidated and/or unsuitable ones.
Herefordshire was no exception and began planning a new county gaol and house of correction in 1790.
The new County Gaol was designed on a cruciform plan by architect John Nash and his design was approved in July 1792.
The prison was constructed between 1794 and 1796 on Bye Street Without (now Commercial Road) on land known as “The Priory”.
It was reported to have cost 18,646 pounds, 16 shillings, and 3 and a half pence.
The stone building initially had four two-storey wings radiating out from the octagonal Great Hall, providing good visibility of the four wings and the prison’s yards.
The prison chapel was above the Great Hall.
The new gaol was surrounded by a high brick wall and opened for prisoners in the Summer of 1796.
The gatehouse was a single-storey building with a flat roof upon which the “New Drop” gallows was erected for public hangings up to 1864, moving away from older cart methods seen in the short drop method.
After this, the mill room was used to house the gallows, constructed over a brick-lined pit in accordance with the evolution of the long drop in the 20th century.
In 1877, the City and County Gaols were amalgamated into the County Gaol by the Prisons Act, giving a capacity of 132 separate cells, which was considered sufficient to house all the prisoners in Herefordshire.
The City Gaol was then closed.
On the 1st of April 1878, control of the prison was transferred to the Prison Commission of the Home Office.
There was a separate detached house for the keeper (governor).
The prison was expanded and improved through the 19th century and had facilities to house male and female felons up to 1905 and initially debtors, until the passing of the Debtors Act of 1869.
The prison closed to ordinary criminals in March 1915 and the inmates were transferred to Gloucester Prison.
The building was used as a detention centre for World War I military deserters.
The prison finally closed completely in 1929 and was demolished by Eli Pearson contractors in 1930.
The governor’s house was converted into offices and toilets for the new bus station.
Early Execution Sites in Hereford
Gallows Tumps
Gallows Tumps was the earliest known place of execution at Hereford and was located south of the town near Belmont Road (A465). (A Tump is a hillock or mound.)
Between the 12th of March 1737 and the 21st of August 1789, there were 334 death sentences passed at the Hereford Assizes resulting in 54 confirmed executions, plus seven probable or possible ones where no reprieve has been found, at this location, as detailed in our gazetteer of execution sites from the late 18th century to abolition in 1964.
St. Owen’s Street, Hereford (1790)
On Monday the 2nd of August 1790, 27-year-old William Jones and his 18-year-old girlfriend, Susannah Rugg, were hanged on a gallows set up in St. Owen’s Street, opposite the old County Gaol.
Jones was convicted of the murder by arsenic poisoning of his wife, Ann, in the parish of Clodock on the 26th of March 1790. Ann died the following day, the 27th of March.
Susannah Rugg was executed for aiding and abetting him.
These were the only executions at this location.
Jones was afterwards hanged in chains (gibbeted) on Longtown Green and Susannah’s body was dissected, both in accordance with the Murder Act of 1751.
This was a classic love triangle case where Ann was an impediment to their relationship.
Public Executions at the New County Gaol (13)
There were 13 hangings here from the 6th of August 1792 to the 5th of April 1864.
All these took place on the New Drop gallows erected on the gatehouse roof.
Samuel Burrows officiated at the four executions in 1830 and 1832; prior to that, the name or names of the hangmen are unknown.
George Smith of Dudley carried out the last two public hangings here.
The bodies of inmates convicted of murder were buried within the “precincts of the prison” after 1832, as required by their sentence. Bodies of non-murderers could be claimed by their family and friends.
Early 19th-Century Public Cases
William (alias John) Phillips, convicted of sheep stealing, was the first to be hanged at the Gaol on the 6th of August 1796.
He had been convicted of stealing 21 wethers, valued at 12 pounds, the property of John Williams, in the parish of Garway on the 10th of May 1796.
There were 12 hangings between 1801 and 1837:
- Thomas Jones (15/08/1801): The first in the 19th century, hanged for burglary at the home of Edmund Stallard at Clifford.
- Stephen Price (31/03/1804): Hanged for sheep stealing from F. Harris Esq., The Moor, Lyonshall.
- Susannah Pugh (28/03/1808): Only one woman was hanged here in the 19th century. She was executed for the murder of her 12-year-old daughter, Sarah, whose throat she had slashed at their home, a rented room in Gaol Lane in Hereford. The murder occurred around 5:00 a.m. on the 19th of August 1807, while little Sarah was sleeping. Two other women sharing the room managed to wrestle the razor away from the mother, preventing her from cutting her own throat. Sarah could no longer afford to rent this room and she and her daughter would have been forced to part, hence why she decided to kill her and take her own life. A very sad case that underlines the poverty of the time.
- Thomas Watkins (23/03/1811): Hanged for the murder of Joan Gwillim at Longtown. His mother, Mary, was also convicted of the murder, but Watkins insisted that he alone committed it; she was respited for three weeks and later reprieved.
- John Rudd (24/08/1811): Died for forgery of Ludlow Bank notes.
- William Hylett (alias Eyelett) (11/04/1812): Hanged for stealing two horses at Raglan.
- William Cadwallader (01/04/1816): Twenty-eight-year-old Cadwallader from Leominster was executed for the murder of his wife of seven years. He also confessed to the murder of his daughter, who had been found dead in her bed after his “savage treatment of her”. It seems that Cadwallader wanted rid of his wife so that he could marry his girlfriend. His grandfather had also been hanged for the murder of his wife with a similar motive.
- Richard Underwood (31/03/1817): Hanged for the murder of Mr. William Harris, the proprietor of the New Inn in Ledbury. Underwood was an ostler at the inn and had killed Mr. Harris with an axe so that he could rob him of his watch and money.
- Thomas Langslow and John Hardy (12/04/1817): Twelve days later, there was a double hanging: Thomas Langslow for “cutting and maiming” (stabbing) John Green at Kington, and John Hardy for horse theft and burglary during which he stole 200 pounds worth of silver plate from the home of John Holford at Kilgwin House in Carmarthenshire.
- John Burlow (11/04/1818): Sixteen-year-old John Burlow was hanged for arson at his employer Mr. Thomas Gibb’s farm at Munsley. The fire claimed the lives of seven horses and destroyed the stables and a hay store.
- James Webb (22/08/1818): Executed for stealing nine sheep at Acton Beauchamp, the property of Mr. Elcocks at Colwell.
The 1830–1832 Assizes
Five men were hanged here between 1828 and 1832:
- James Williams (17/04/1830): Nineteen-year-old Williams was executed for highway robbery at Tupsley. The victim was Francis Wellington, an old soldier who was walking home to Lugwardine and was robbed of his pension money, just 5 pounds.
- Joseph Pugh, John Matthews, and William Williams (26/03/1832): On the 26th of March 1832, Joseph Pugh, John Matthews, and William Williams (brother of James Williams above) were hanged for the murder of Walter Carwardine in the brothel run by Pugh in Quaker’s Lane, Hereford. The motive was robbery; Carwardine’s body had been thrown into the River Wye and lay undiscovered in the water for three weeks.
- James Gammon (25/08/1832): Executed for the rape of Charlotte Powell, aged seven, at Whitchurch.
It should be noted that after 1837 only murder and attempted murder (up to 1861) were capital crimes.
The Final Public Executions
There were no further executions at Hereford until the 15th of April 1863, when 30-year-old William Hope was hanged for the rape and murder of 16-year-old Mary Corbett at Ullingswick.
Hope confessed to the crime. The execution reportedly drew a large crowd.
At 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday the 5th of April 1864, Thomas Watkins became the last person to die in public at Hereford, for the murder of his wife, Mary Ann, on the 18th of January that year in a field at Hennor near Leominster.
He was tried at the Hereford Lent Assizes before Mr. Baron Piggot on Wednesday the 30th of March.
He had initially pleaded guilty but then withdrew this and stood trial.
The night before his hanging, Watkins made a confession, stating the motive was to prevent his wife telling the parish authorities of his whereabouts, as he was a deserter from the Marines.
Only a small number of people witnessed this hanging as it was a very wet morning.
George Smith from Dudley carried out both of these final public hangings.
Private Executions at Hereford County Gaol (5)
Following the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868, five executions took place in private within the prison walls from the 24th of November 1885 to the 15th of December 1903:
| Execution Date | Condemned Name | Age | Crime and Victim | Executioner / Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24/11/1885 | John Hill (alias Sailor Jack) | 34 | Murder of Ann Dickinson at Weobley | James Berry |
| 24/11/1885 | John Williams (alias Irish Jack) | 36 | Murder of Ann Dickinson at Weobley | James Berry |
| 20/03/1888 | James Jones | 23 | Robbery-murder of Phillip Ballard (85) at Tupsley | James Berry |
| 20/03/1888 | Alfred Scandrett | 23 | Robbery-murder of Phillip Ballard (85) at Tupsley | James Berry |
| 23/12/1891 | Charles Saunders | 31 | Murder of Walter Frederick Steers (2) | James Billington |
| 15/12/1903 | William Haywood | 61 | Murder of wife Jane at Lucton quarry | Henry Pierrepoint & John Ellis |
Case Records of Private Hangings
John Hill and John Williams (24/11/1885)
Thirty-four-year-old John Hill, alias ‘Sailor Jack’, and 36-year-old John Williams, aka “Irish Jack”, were convicted of the murder of 32-year-old Ann Dickinson, also known as Ann Doherty, at Weobley on the 30th of September 1885.
Ann and her friend, Mrs. Mary Ann Farrell, had gone out for the evening to the Red Lion pub in Weobley, taking Mary’s baby with them.
Here they met and talked with Hill and Williams.
Shortly after the two men left the pub, Ann and Mrs. Farrell left to walk to Holme Farm where they were working as hop pickers.
Hill offered to see them home, and he and the two women started to walk across the fields.
They came to a gate and Mrs. Farrell opened it and went through first.
She was assaulted by a man with a heavy stick and knocked unconscious.
When she came round she saw that the man was Williams, whom she knew, and he was trying to take her baby.
She ran to the nearby cottage of a shepherd, who took her in and later escorted her to Holme Farm.
The next morning, Ann’s body was found in a ditch by two men going to work.
It was reported that:
“she had been subject to the grossest ill-treatment and that her features were almost unrecognisable”
Whether “grossest ill-treatment” was a Victorian journalistic euphemism for rape is unclear.
Williams was arrested in Weobley.
When Hill was located, his clothing had blood spatter on it, consistent with the beating that had been inflicted upon Ann.
Hill and Williams were tried at Gloucester before Mr. Justice Field on Thursday the 5th of November 1885.
It was admitted that the murder was committed with a knobkerrie stick owned by Williams.
Both men were convicted on the doctrine of common purpose.
They were hanged on Tuesday the 24th of November 1885 by James Berry.
He gave both men a drop of eight feet, and death was reported to have been instantaneous.
James Jones and Alfred Scandrett (20/03/1888)
In the early hours of October the 19th, 1887, two 23-year-old men broke into the home of 85-year-old Phillip Ballard at Tupsley in Hereford.
They beat him with an axe, ransacking the house and escaping with anything of value they could find.
Mr. Ballard was found by his niece, Miss Ada Ballard, who also lived there and had been awakened by the servants.
Despite the best efforts of the local doctor, Mr. Ballard succumbed to his injuries four days later.
Scandrett was later arrested in Birmingham and Jones in Hereford.
Both men blamed the other for the attack.
They were tried at Hereford Assizes before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Coleridge, on the 2nd of March 1888.
Both pleaded not guilty and both blamed the other for the murder.
Scandrett attempted to strangle Jones to death in the dock, apparently because he blamed Jones for his capture.
In the condemned cell Scandrett confessed that he alone was responsible for the physical violence, but under the doctrine of common purpose, Jones—who admitted to being present but doing nothing to prevent the attack—was equally guilty.
They were hanged by James Berry on the 20th of March 1888.
Reporters were still allowed to witness executions at this time and full details were printed.
Jones weighed 140 lbs and Scandrett 142 lbs. Berry gave them both a drop of 6 feet.
Both were reported to be calm and resigned to their fate.
Within a minute of arrival on the gallows, under which a pit had been dug, Berry operated the lever.
Scandrett died without a struggle, while Jones’s body reportedly “quivered” on the rope for nearly a minute.
Charles Saunders (23/12/1891)
On Wednesday the 23rd of December 1891, 31-year-old Charles Saunders was hanged for the murder of two-year-old Walter Frederick Steers at Little Hereford, near Leominster, in May 1891.
Walter had last been seen alive at Ludlow Fair in the spring of 1891.
Saunders, whose occupation was given as a blacksmith, and his girlfriend used the boy to help them beg for money.
Reportedly Saunders regularly physically abused Walter, and one night when the child would not stop crying, Saunders picked him up by the legs and dashed his head against the floor.
Saunders was tried at Hereford on Friday the 4th of December 1891.
The main witness for the prosecution was his girlfriend, Elizabeth Caldwell.
The couple had “borrowed” the little boy from a couple who lived in London.
They had found a deserted cottage to live in, and it was here that the murder took place.
The exact date could not be determined because the body was not discovered for some 16 weeks, having been hidden under a pile of straw.
The execution was carried out by James Billington, working without an assistant, and was scheduled for 8:00 a.m.
However, Billington was late arriving as thick fog had hampered his railway journey from Durham, where he had executed John Johnson the previous day.
He did not reach the prison until after 9:00 a.m.
The execution was therefore delayed until 10:00 a.m.
Saunders was given a drop of eight feet, and death was reported to be instantaneous by the solitary reporter permitted to be present.
It was recorded that after the trapdoor fell the body swung from side to side and the arms seemed to twitch for several seconds.
William Haywood: Hereford’s Last Hanging (1903)
Sixty-one-year-old William Haywood was hanged on Tuesday the 15th of December 1903 for the murder of his wife, Jane.
Haywood worked at Pokehouse Wood quarry at Lucton near Leominster in Herefordshire and had been married to Jane for a long time.
On Saturday the 11th of July 1903, Haywood called at the Mortimer’s Cross Inn where he drank a pint of beer and bought another plus some whiskey before going to the quarry.
At 8:00 a.m., Jane took his breakfast to the quarry.
Around 1:00 p.m., Haywood returned to the Mortimer’s Cross Inn where he had another pint and told someone that he had thrown a stone at Jane which had hit her in the head and that she was bleeding.
He went on:
“if she is dead when I get back I will bury her in the brook.”
At 8:45 p.m., William was walking towards the Inn pushing a wheelbarrow containing Jane’s body.
The police were sent for, and Haywood told them that his wife had met with an accident.
A search of the quarry revealed the murder scene, strewn with bloodstained rocks and the empty bottles that Haywood had purchased from the Inn.
He was therefore charged with murder.
Haywood came to trial at the Shire Hall in Hereford on the 28th of November before Mr. Justice Bigham.
His counsel tried to put forward a defence of insanity, as Haywood had spent time in the Hereford City and County Lunatic Asylum.
Dr. Morrison from the asylum testified that Haywood was “an imbecile of the higher grade” and that consuming alcohol had led to temporary insanity.
Neither the judge nor the jury were impressed with this defence.
It took the jury just a few minutes to return a guilty verdict.
He was hanged on a gallows set up in the prison mill house by Henry Pierrepoint and John Ellis.
This was the last hanging carried out at Hereford County Gaol and the only one of the 20th century.
Capital cases in the county were subsequently transferred to Gloucester Prison prior to the abolition of capital punishment in Britain in 1965.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Hereford County Gaol built?
Hereford County Gaol was designed by prominent Regency architect John Nash on a cruciform plan with an octagonal central hall. Construction took place between 1794 and 1796 on Commercial Road (formerly Bye Street Without) at a cost of over 18,600 pounds.
How many executions were carried out at Hereford County Gaol?
A total of 18 executions were carried out at the gaol between 1796 and 1903: 13 public hangings on the gatehouse roof (1796–1864) and five private executions inside the prison mill house (1885–1903).
What happened at the execution of Susannah Pugh in 1808?
Susannah Pugh was the only woman hanged at Hereford County Gaol in the 19th century. Facing extreme poverty and eviction, she slashed the throat of her 12-year-old daughter Sarah in their rented room in Gaol Lane, attempting suicide before being restrained. She was executed on March 28, 1808.
Why did Alfred Scandrett attempt to attack James Jones in the dock in 1888?
During their trial for the axe murder of 85-year-old Phillip Ballard at Tupsley, both men blamed each other. Scandrett attacked Jones in the dock, attempting to strangle him because he blamed Jones for their apprehension. Both were convicted under the doctrine of common purpose and hanged together by James Berry.
Who was the last person executed at Hereford County Gaol?
Sixty-one-year-old quarryman William Haywood was the final person executed at Hereford on December 15, 1903, hanged by Henry Pierrepoint and John Ellis for the murder of his wife Jane at Lucton.
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