The current prison at Lewes in East Sussex was built between 1850 and 1853 on Brighton Road (A277) in Lewes, at a cost of £56,000.
It is of somewhat unusual appearance, in that the outer wall facings are of flint.
It was designed by architect Daniel Rowlinson Hill and as built had four wings, one each for males, females, juveniles, and debtors, in a cruciform pattern radiating from a central hall.
In 1868 to 1870 an additional 120 cells were added by lengthening the wings.
The female-only F Wing closed during World War I and its inmates were transferred to Holloway Prison.
As HMP Lewes, the prison is still functioning in 2023 as a local Category B prison.
A total of 10 executions were carried out at the new prison at Lewes, before Sussex executions were moved to Wandsworth Prison.
Early Executions in Sussex and the Old County Gaol
Prior to 1831, Sussex executions were carried out at Horsham, as noted in our comprehensive gazetteer of execution sites from the late 18th century to abolition in 1964.
Three public hangings were carried out at the older Sussex County Gaol.
This old prison, which had opened in 1791, was acquired for £3,000 by the Royal Navy in 1854 to house naval prisoners.
Those three executions were:
- John Holloway (16/12/1831): Hanged for the murder of his wife;
- Mary Ann Geering (21/08/1848): Hanged for the murder by arsenic poisoning of her husband and two adult sons;
- Sarah French (10/04/1852): Hanged for the murder by poisoning of her husband, William, at Chiddingly in Sussex.
Public Executions at the New Lewes Prison (2)
There were two public hangings conducted outside the gatehouse of the new prison on Brighton Road:
John Murdoch (05/08/1856)
At noon on the 5th of August 1856, 18-year-old John Murdoch (or Murdock) was hanged by William Calcraft for the murder by strangling of James Wellerd, the Hastings gaoler, while trying to escape.
He died without a struggle, and the crowd was estimated at 1,500 to 2,000 spectators.
There had been a very active campaign to obtain a reprieve, presumably on account of Murdoch’s youth.
John William Leigh (10/04/1866)
John William Leigh was hanged at noon on Tuesday the 10th of April 1866 for the murder by shooting of his sister-in-law, Harriet Haston (also given as Horton and Harton), who was the landlady of the Jolly Fisherman public house in Market Street, Brighton, where the murder took place.
He also attempted to murder Superintendent Barndon of the Brighton police, who was trying to arrest him, but fortunately the bullet only passed through Barndon’s clothing.
William Calcraft was again the hangman, and Leigh died with barely a struggle using the older short drop apparatus.
Private Executions Inside Lewes Prison (8)
Following the Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868, public executions were abolished in Britain, and a total of eight hangings were carried out within the walls of the prison:
| Prisoner Name | Execution Date | Age | Crime and Victim | Executioner / Assistant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Henry Brown | 18/01/1869 | 22 | Murder of David Baldry at Kingston | William Calcraft |
| Percy Lefroy Mapleton | 29/11/1881 | 22 | Murder of Isaac Gold on train at Preston Park | William Marwood |
| William Wilton | 29/08/1887 | 40 | Murder of wife Sarah at Brighton | James Berry |
| George Henry Wood | 26/04/1892 | — | Rape and murder of Edith Jeal (age 5) at Brighton | James Billington |
| Albert Rumens | 07/01/1913 | — | Murder of Mabel Ann Maryan (age 10) near Wadhurst | Thomas Pierrepoint & assistant |
| George Mackay | 29/01/1913 | — | Murder at Eastbourne | John Ellis & assistant |
| Herbert Brooker | 28/07/1914 | — | Murder of wife at Hastings | John Ellis & assistant |
| Percy Clifford | 11/08/1914 | — | Murder at Brighton | John Ellis & assistant |
Notable Private Execution Cases
Martin Henry Brown (alias Martin Vinall): A Case of Mistaken Identity (1869)
Twenty-two-year-old Brown had been convicted of the murder of a 62-year-old farm labourer called David Baldry (also given as Baldrey).
Both men worked for a Mr. Hodson, who ran a large farm at Kingston between Brighton and Lewes.
David Baldry was walking home to his cottage near Lewes when he was murdered.
It was reported in the press that Brown had lodged with David Baldry for a time.
Brown had shot Baldry on the 9th of October 1868 and robbed him of his and his two sons’ wages, amounting to some £3 or £4 in total.
He made a confession in the condemned cell of Lewes Gaol.
In this, he stated that he did not intend to kill David Baldry, but rather a shepherd named Tuppin.
He had lain in wait for Tuppin on Newmarket Hill.
He saw a man approaching, hailed him, and as he turned round shot him three times.
He finished the man off with the butt of his rifle, before taking his watch and money.
He realised at this point who it was that he had killed and made his escape.
Baldry’s body was discovered the following morning some 450 yards from his cottage by his two sons as they went to work.
The broken gun stock was found nearby and could be shown to match the prisoner’s gun, which had been found by the police hidden in some long grass close to the scene of the murder.
Brown then attempted to enlist in the Royal Artillery at Maidstone and was arrested.
He came to trial before Baron Channell at the Sussex Assizes at Lewes on the 29th and 30th of December 1868.
He was hanged at 8:00 a.m. on Monday the 18th of January 1869 by William Calcraft.
He reportedly walked with a firm step the 100 yards or so to the gallows, erected in a small airing yard on the eastern side of the prison.
The gallows was described as being about 15 feet tall in total, with a flight of steps leading up to the platform and the area below the platform draped in black cloth.
Brown apparently died without a struggle.
He had told the chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Duke, that he hoped to meet “poor old Baldry” in Heaven.
The black flag was hoisted to show that the execution had been carried out.
Later in the morning, the formal inquest was held before the coroner, Mr. Fullagar.
Brown had a number of previous convictions for theft for which he had served prison terms dating back to 1863.
His case received considerable publicity in the newspapers, with many publishing his confession in full.
Percy Lefroy Mapleton: The Preston Park Railway Murder (1881)
At 9:00 a.m. on the 29th of November 1881, 22-year-old Percy Lefroy (whose real surname was Mapleton) was hanged here.
His case received a great deal of press coverage as he was another railway murderer, and the crime was considered to be particularly shocking at the time.
Mapleton was convicted of the murder of Isaac Gold on a London, Brighton and South Coast Railway train at Preston Park on the outskirts of Brighton on Monday the 27th of June 1881.
At first, Mapleton claimed to station staff to have been the victim of an attack, and they took him to the police station to make a statement.
An examination of the carriage from which he had emerged revealed bullet holes and a great deal of blood everywhere in the compartment.
Although the police were suspicious of him, there was no evidence at the time to hold him, so after giving his statement and receiving some medical attention Mapleton was allowed to return to London in the company of a policeman.
In the meantime, railway staff searched the track in the Brighton area and came across the body of a man in Balcombe Tunnel, who was later identified as Mr. Isaac Gold.
He had been shot and robbed of his gold watch and chain and his money.
Mapleton managed to give his police escort the slip, despite Detective Sergeant Holmes having been informed that Mr. Gold’s body had been found.
For the first time, a newspaper (The Daily Telegraph) was able to print a picture of Mapleton, which led to innumerable sightings of similar-looking men all over England.
The real Mapleton was arrested on the 8th of July, living under an assumed name at a house in Stepney in London.
His trial opened at Maidstone Assizes before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Coleridge, on the 4th of November 1881.
Mapleton pleaded not guilty. It took the jury just 10 minutes to reach their verdict.
Mapleton made a full confession in the condemned cell to the prison chaplain, the Rev. Cole.
The gallows at Lewes, which was probably the same one that had been used for public hangings, was erected in one of the yards over a newly constructed 15-foot-deep brick-lined pit.
It consisted of two stout uprights and a crossbeam set over a double-door trap, all painted black.
An iron bracket with a ring was attached at the centre of the beam, and the rope attached to the ring by an iron hook.
Mapleton’s newly dug grave was visible nearby and would have been seen by him as he walked to his doom.
Six newspaper reporters were permitted to witness the hanging, and William Marwood chatted to them in the yard prior to the execution.
He told them that the rope he was going to use that morning had hanged nine people and had been used the previous day at Manchester’s Strangeways Prison for the hanging of 21-year-old John Simpson, who had murdered his girlfriend, Ann Ratcliffe.
A little before 9 o’clock, Marwood was interrupted in his conversation with the journalists by a warder telling him that he was required to pinion Mapleton.
He used a heavy leather body belt round the young man’s waist which had straps at the side for his wrists.
The procession to the gallows formed up, led by the chaplain; Mapleton followed, supported by a warder on either side and with Marwood holding the body belt from behind for the 50 to 60-yard walk to the gallows.
The under-sheriff, the prison surgeon, and the visiting magistrate came next.
Once on the trap, Marwood strapped Mapleton’s legs and put the white hood over his head, followed by the noose.
A drop of nine feet was given according to the evolution of the long drop in the 20th century, causing fracture and dislocation of Mapleton’s neck.
There were no movements observed, and he died without any sign of struggle.
Around a hundred people waited outside the prison to see the black flag flown.
Mapleton was left on the rope for the normal hour before being taken down for the formal inquest at 10:15 a.m. before coroner Mr. W. E. Baxter.
The body was then buried within the precincts of the prison. This execution took some 3 to 4 minutes to carry out.
William Wilton: Wife Murder (1887)
At 9:00 a.m. on the 29th of August 1887, 40-year-old William Wilton was hanged for the murder of his wife, 35-year-old Sarah, at their home at 10 Cavendish Street in Brighton on the 9th of July 1887.
Wilton was tried and convicted before Mr. Justice Hawkins on the 10th of August 1887.
He weighed 130 lbs and was given a drop of 5 feet 6 inches by James Berry.
Some 50 people waited outside the prison to see the black flag unfurled.
George Henry Wood (1892)
On the 26th of April 1892, George Henry Wood was executed for the rape and murder by strangulation of Edith Jeal, aged five, at Brighton on Thursday the 10th of December 1891.
Edith and her brother had run a shopping errand for their parents on this Thursday evening.
They had bought some chestnuts and a bundle of firewood.
The boy then went into a shop on Manchester Row, leaving Edith outside. When he exited the shop, she was missing.
Wood, who worked in the goods yard of the Brighton railway, was seen in the area of Manchester Row as he made his way home to Rock Street.
He was seen to accost a small group of young girls before spotting Edith and persuading her to accompany him.
He was subsequently seen carrying her near the Sussex County Hospital, and the crime took place in a neighbouring field.
Edith’s body was discovered the following morning. She had been raped and strangled.
Wood was arrested and his clothes were found to be bloodstained.
He appeared at a committal hearing before magistrates on the 12th of December and was remanded to stand trial at the next assizes.
Wood was convicted at the Sussex Lent Assizes before Mr. Justice Mathew on the 7th of April 1892.
At six minutes to nine on the morning of execution, James Billington went to the condemned cell where he pinioned Wood’s arms and wrists and bared his neck.
The procession to the gallows formed up, led by the Rev. B. Wilkinson, followed by the prisoner escorted by two turnkeys, with the governor, under-sheriff, prison surgeon, and Billington following.
On the gallows, Wood’s last words were:
“Lord Jesus receive my spirit”.
Billington released the trap and Wood dropped seven feet. His neck was dislocated and death was instantaneous.
The black flag was hoisted to advise the crowd of around 200 that the execution had been carried out.
The inquest was held in the boardroom at 10:30 a.m. before Mr. G. E. Hillman, the Coroner for East Sussex.
20th-Century Executions and Closure (1913–1914)
It is strange how some prisons that had few hangings in total have them close together.
In the period 1900 to 1914, Lewes Prison saw just four executions: two in 1913 and two in 1914:
- Albert Rumens (07/01/1913): Hanged for the brutal child murder of 10-year-old Mabel Ann Maryan, whose body was discovered in Buckland Hill Wood near Wadhurst in September 1912;
- George Mackay (29/01/1913): Hanged three weeks later for murder committed in Eastbourne;
- Herbert Brooker (28/07/1914): Executed for the murder of his wife at Hastings;
- Percy Clifford (11/08/1914): Hanged just two weeks after Brooker for murder committed in Brighton.
Percy Clifford’s execution on August 11th, 1914, was the final execution carried out at Lewes Prison.
Following this execution, the Home Office discontinued executions at Lewes, and all subsequent capital cases arising in Sussex were transferred to London’s Wandsworth Prison up until the abolition of capital punishment in Britain in 1965.
Frequently Asked Questions
When was the current Lewes Prison built?
The current Lewes Prison on Brighton Road was constructed between 1850 and 1853 at a cost of £56,000, designed by architect Daniel Rowlinson Hill in a cruciform layout with distinctive flint wall facings.
How many executions took place at the new Lewes Prison?
A total of 10 executions took place at the new Lewes Prison: two public hangings outside the gatehouse (1856 and 1866) and eight private executions within the prison yards (1869 to 1914).
What was the Preston Park railway murder?
On June 27, 1881, Percy Lefroy Mapleton shot and robbed retired coin dealer Isaac Gold in a first-class carriage on a train to Brighton, dumping Gold’s body in Balcombe Tunnel. Mapleton was tracked down via the first published police composite sketch in The Daily Telegraph and hanged by William Marwood at Lewes on November 29, 1881.
When did executions cease at Lewes Prison?
The final execution at Lewes was that of Percy Clifford on August 11, 1914. After this date, capital executions for Sussex were transferred to Wandsworth Prison in London.
What is Lewes Prison used for today?
HMP Lewes continues to serve as an operational Category B local men’s prison serving courts across Sussex.
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