NINETEEN SIXTY TWO – PART 99
Public Executions at Bodmin
Michael L. Roach
When the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway opened in 1834 it was one of the earliest railways in Great Britain. Indeed the B&W predated the Cornish main line by some 25 years. According to Wikipedia the first privately chartered excursion train advertised to the public was on 5 July 1841 from Leicester to Loughborough, organised by one Thomas Cook. However the Bodmin and Wadebridge had been running their own excursion trains from as early as 1836. On 14 June 1836 the B&W organised a trip from both Bodmin and Wadebridge to Wenford Bridge at a fare of one shilling (5p) a head. Among the other trips that the B&W organised were trips to Bodmin to witness public executions at the same fare of one shilling.
Just a quarter mile from its terminus at Bodmin (later Bodmin North in British Railways days) the railway passed Bodmin Jail. Between 1802 and 1909 some 32 men and women were executed at the jail. Up until 1868 these were public executions done outside the main entrance of the jail which was then in Berrycoombe Road. In the years after the opening of the railway such public executions averaged about one every five years, and they became a spectacle that many people wanted to see. The impecunious but enterprising Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway saw an opportunity to make a quick buck by running excursions to Bodmin on the day appointed for an execution, even (allegedly) to the extent of stopping the excursion train directly opposite the jail so that the passengers could get a grandstand view of the event. The first such execution when the B&W might have run a special train was on Monday 30 March 1835. John HENWOOD had been found guilty at Launceston after a trial lasting one day on Saturday 28 March 1835. Justice was swift and he was executed at Bodmin two days later on the Monday at 12.00 noon. However the Royal Cornwall Gazette reported that there were no large crowds for the execution.
The next execution at Bodmin took place on 13 April 1840 when there was a double execution of two brothers side-by-side. They had been convicted of the brutal murder of Mr. Neville NORWAY, a Wadebridge merchant, who often had goods delivered by the railway. James (23) and William LIGHTFOOT (36) were found guilty after what the Royal Cornwall Gazette called a “long course of wickedness.” The RCG also reported that the town became densely crowded with people from all parts of the County, some of them walking 20 or 30 miles through the night to be there. Some had even brought their own sustenance in the form of pasties. The field opposite the main gate of the prison, where the gallows had been erected, were full with a crowd estimated at 20,000 persons filling the valley. Interestingly both the Royal Cornwall Gazette and the West Briton carried sketches of the two defendants in court, something that still happens today.
The next hanging was four years later and again huge crowds descended on Bodmin for the public execution. The Royal Cornwall Gazette reported people coming from as far away as Penzance and an equal distance in the other direction. This time the RCG was much more restrained in its reporting of execution day, without so much of the detailed and emotive language it had used in 1840. On Monday 12 August 1844 a 22-year old farm labourer called Matthew WEEKS was executed for the murder of a 19-year old dairy-maid called Charlotte DYMOND. They had both worked at the same farm on the edge of Bodmin Moor outside Camelford. The murder had taken place on the Moor, within sight of Rough Tor on 14 April 1844. A monument to Charlotte was erected by public subscription and marks the spot where her body was found not far from the end of the public road. It is a magnificent monument more than three metres high located at grid reference SX 138 818 and only a short walk from the car park at the end of the public road. Charlotte was buried in the Churchyard of Davidstow Parish Church on 25 April 1844.
The Shire Hall Visitor Centre at Bodmin formerly contained an interactive exhibition of the trial of Matthew WEEKS in the courtroom where the original trial was held in 1844; called “The Courtroom Experience,” Unfortunately it is now closed. Due to the monument on Bodmin Moor; the location and circumstances of the murder; the circumstantial evidence against Matthew WEEKS; and continuing interest and articles, the murder of Charlotte DYMOND has become one of the best known and enduring murder stories to take place in Cornwall. The entry for Matthew WEEKS can be found in the Criminal Registers for Cornwall and it shows he was tried at the County Assizes on 31 July 1844, found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed 180 years ago today and his body was buried within the grounds of Bodmin Jail.
Bodmin Jail was built in 1779 and operated as a prison until 1927. Most of the buildings survive to this day and it now operates as a tourist attraction with guided tours; and as an hotel and bistro. Ten years ago the restaurant advertised itself with the slogan “serving our guests since 1779.” Today one does not have to be locked in to eat or stay there. So do I think that the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway stopped its excursion trains directly opposite the gallows. They may have done once perhaps, and that would have shown up the difficulties:- getting some passengers off the train who wanted to be further away from the gallows; blocking the view of the 20,000 people on the hillside opposite; holding the train on the steep gradient in the absence of continuous brakes; and the oblique view that many of the passengers would have had of the scaffold. For railway enthusiasts there is an interesting aside to the public execution in 1844. In the very same issue of the Royal Cornwall Gazette that the execution of Matthew Weeks was reported on Friday 16 August 1844, right alongside in the next column is a short report that the construction of the South Devon Railway from Exeter to Newton had commenced.
AUTHOR'S NOTE. This article is a revised version of one that was first published on the website of the Cornwall Railway Society on 12 August 2014 to mark the 170th anniversary of the public execution at Bodmin that day.
Just a quarter mile from its terminus at Bodmin (later Bodmin North in British Railways days) the railway passed Bodmin Jail. Between 1802 and 1909 some 32 men and women were executed at the jail. Up until 1868 these were public executions done outside the main entrance of the jail which was then in Berrycoombe Road. In the years after the opening of the railway such public executions averaged about one every five years, and they became a spectacle that many people wanted to see. The impecunious but enterprising Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway saw an opportunity to make a quick buck by running excursions to Bodmin on the day appointed for an execution, even (allegedly) to the extent of stopping the excursion train directly opposite the jail so that the passengers could get a grandstand view of the event. The first such execution when the B&W might have run a special train was on Monday 30 March 1835. John HENWOOD had been found guilty at Launceston after a trial lasting one day on Saturday 28 March 1835. Justice was swift and he was executed at Bodmin two days later on the Monday at 12.00 noon. However the Royal Cornwall Gazette reported that there were no large crowds for the execution.
The next execution at Bodmin took place on 13 April 1840 when there was a double execution of two brothers side-by-side. They had been convicted of the brutal murder of Mr. Neville NORWAY, a Wadebridge merchant, who often had goods delivered by the railway. James (23) and William LIGHTFOOT (36) were found guilty after what the Royal Cornwall Gazette called a “long course of wickedness.” The RCG also reported that the town became densely crowded with people from all parts of the County, some of them walking 20 or 30 miles through the night to be there. Some had even brought their own sustenance in the form of pasties. The field opposite the main gate of the prison, where the gallows had been erected, were full with a crowd estimated at 20,000 persons filling the valley. Interestingly both the Royal Cornwall Gazette and the West Briton carried sketches of the two defendants in court, something that still happens today.
The next hanging was four years later and again huge crowds descended on Bodmin for the public execution. The Royal Cornwall Gazette reported people coming from as far away as Penzance and an equal distance in the other direction. This time the RCG was much more restrained in its reporting of execution day, without so much of the detailed and emotive language it had used in 1840. On Monday 12 August 1844 a 22-year old farm labourer called Matthew WEEKS was executed for the murder of a 19-year old dairy-maid called Charlotte DYMOND. They had both worked at the same farm on the edge of Bodmin Moor outside Camelford. The murder had taken place on the Moor, within sight of Rough Tor on 14 April 1844. A monument to Charlotte was erected by public subscription and marks the spot where her body was found not far from the end of the public road. It is a magnificent monument more than three metres high located at grid reference SX 138 818 and only a short walk from the car park at the end of the public road. Charlotte was buried in the Churchyard of Davidstow Parish Church on 25 April 1844.
The Shire Hall Visitor Centre at Bodmin formerly contained an interactive exhibition of the trial of Matthew WEEKS in the courtroom where the original trial was held in 1844; called “The Courtroom Experience,” Unfortunately it is now closed. Due to the monument on Bodmin Moor; the location and circumstances of the murder; the circumstantial evidence against Matthew WEEKS; and continuing interest and articles, the murder of Charlotte DYMOND has become one of the best known and enduring murder stories to take place in Cornwall. The entry for Matthew WEEKS can be found in the Criminal Registers for Cornwall and it shows he was tried at the County Assizes on 31 July 1844, found guilty and sentenced to death. He was executed 180 years ago today and his body was buried within the grounds of Bodmin Jail.
Bodmin Jail was built in 1779 and operated as a prison until 1927. Most of the buildings survive to this day and it now operates as a tourist attraction with guided tours; and as an hotel and bistro. Ten years ago the restaurant advertised itself with the slogan “serving our guests since 1779.” Today one does not have to be locked in to eat or stay there. So do I think that the Bodmin and Wadebridge Railway stopped its excursion trains directly opposite the gallows. They may have done once perhaps, and that would have shown up the difficulties:- getting some passengers off the train who wanted to be further away from the gallows; blocking the view of the 20,000 people on the hillside opposite; holding the train on the steep gradient in the absence of continuous brakes; and the oblique view that many of the passengers would have had of the scaffold. For railway enthusiasts there is an interesting aside to the public execution in 1844. In the very same issue of the Royal Cornwall Gazette that the execution of Matthew Weeks was reported on Friday 16 August 1844, right alongside in the next column is a short report that the construction of the South Devon Railway from Exeter to Newton had commenced.
AUTHOR'S NOTE. This article is a revised version of one that was first published on the website of the Cornwall Railway Society on 12 August 2014 to mark the 170th anniversary of the public execution at Bodmin that day.
The monument to Charlotte Dymond is located behind the tree in the middle of the photograph. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
The monument with Rough Tor in the background. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
The top of the monument. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
The original entrance to Bodmin Jail. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
Part of the jail lost its roof many years ago. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
This is where the scaffold (or drop as it was then known) would be erected. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
The railway line formerly ran along the left hand side of the road, looking east towards Bodmin North. Copyright Michael L. Roach.
In this drone view looking east the prison is on the left with the original entrance (where the scaffold was erected) at the start of the bend in the road, which was very narrow. The later improved road was built on the line of the railway which went straight on to Bodmin North Station. Copyright Jon Hird.
Lostwithiel gains a footbridge
Tim Hughes
After many years, the temporary bridge has been lifted into place over night. Workmen are seen here late at night after the last trains have passed linking the two platforms together. 11.08.2024, copyright Tim Hughes.
An alternative view from the platform as the bridge deck is slowly lowered into place. 11.08.2024, copyright Tim Hughes.
The view from the level crossing. The crane is parked in the former down goods yard/bay platform. 11.08.2024, copyright Tim Hughes.
Many thanks Tim - well done to you and the people of Lostwithiel for getting this to happen - it's been a long time coming.
The new Lostwithiel Footbridge
(in daylight)
Jon Hird
After seeing Tims photos, I decided to add some daylight photos of the new structure to the site. The bridge is not yet open to pedestrians. A GWR IET unit passes beneath it on 11.08.2024. Copyright Jon Hird.
The bridge is currently weighed down by a number of IBC's (Intermediate Bulk Containers) full of water on either side. Copyright Jon Hird.
A number of slabs have been lifted to provide a level base for the feet of the structure. Copyright Jon Hird.
The IET departs. Much has changed here in the last 6 months - the signal box has closed, the semaphores have gone, and now a footbridge has appeared. Copyright Jon Hird.
Bodmin Road 'Western'
Ross Griffiths
D1023 'Western Fusilier' climbs the grade into Bodmin Road with the 1025 Penzance to Leeds. Copyright Ross Griffiths.
Many thanks Ross, a classic loco and a classic location, excellent.
More from the 2008 SDR Diesel Gala
Paul Barlow
33202 works 1050 Buckfastleigh to Totnes. Copyright Paul Barlow.
47237 D6737 work the 1227 from Totnes to Buckfastleigh approaches Staverton Bridge where the 47 was removed 26 April 2008. Copyright Paul Barlow.
20118 leaves Staverton Bridge on 1225 Buckfastleigh to Totnes. Copyright Paul Barlow.
Many thanks to you, Paul
The Blue 150 at Marsh Barton
David Tozer
One of two GWR Class 150/2's still to retain their blue 'First Great Western' paintwork, 150219 is seen at Marsh Barton with the 1057 Exmouth to Paignton on 10.08.2024. Copyright David Tozer.
Many thanks Dave - the pair of blue 150's are always worth a photo!