PRISONS AND GALLOWS (fn. 1)
Municipal Prisons
The city of York, like many lesser towns, (fn. 2) may be
supposed to have had its own prison from an early
date, and a writ of 1248 (fn. 3) may refer to such a prison.
It was not, however, granted a prison by the Crown,
and the first clear allusion to its prison is to be found
in 1278-9. The butchers of the city then guarded it
by night and the bailiffs by day. (fn. 4) The building
already bore its later name, the kidcot(e), a name no
doubt attached to it in jest, (fn. 5) at the time when the
14th-century custumal was copied into the Memorandum Book. It was then used, among other purposes, to confine night-walkers, men and women, clerical and lay, until they could be brought before
a court Christian. (fn. 6) It seems almost certain that by
1398 there were two civic prisons, (fn. 7) and afterwards
the plural form 'kidcotes' is often found. (fn. 8) The fact
that there was both a sheriffs' prison and a mayor's
prison, each called a kidcote, is enough to justify the
plural. Besides this, however, there was the need to
distinguish, as in 1435, between prisons for men and
women, (fn. 9) though it cannot be proved that both mayor
and sheriffs maintained separate prisons for each sex
before 1584. (fn. 10) The sheriffs' prison was presumably
for felons and misdemeanants: it is known that the
man charged with stealing the keys of Bootham Bar
in 1489, (fn. 11) a suspected murderer in 1522, (fn. 12) and persons accused in 1536 (fn. 13) and 1569 (fn. 14) of reviling the
mayor were all committed to the sheriffs' care. On
the other hand a man found posting slanderous
bills in 1536 seems to have been committed to the
mayor's. (fn. 15) By 1486 a civic prison was being delivered
by the justices of gaol delivery. (fn. 16)
It has been surmised that both kidcotes stood on
Ouse Bridge throughout the Middle Ages. (fn. 17) Certainly there was a prison there in 1278-9 (fn. 18) and there
were two by 1398. (fn. 19) By 1435 a set of 'cells', probably
for men, stood beside the doorway of a chapel. (fn. 20)
There can be little doubt that this was the chapel of
St. William. In later times the crypt below this
chapel served as the felons' kidcote and the body of
the chapel that surmounted it became the offices
of the corporation. (fn. 21) It is not exactly known when
all this came about. Although the chapel began to
be dismantled in 1550 (fn. 22) there is nothing to show
that it was then destined for a civic purpose and in
1556 mass was once again being celebrated within
it. (fn. 23) Perhaps the rebuilding of the bridge, consequent
upon the flood damage of 1565, was the occasion for
adapting the chapel and adding other civic buildings.
The rebuilding was complete by October 1566, (fn. 24)
and by 1569 the 'low prison' of the sheriffs upon the
bridge is mentioned; (fn. 25) this was probably within the
chapel. By 1585 it is unquestionable that certain 'chambers' in the chapel were occupied by
prisoners. (fn. 26)
In 1574 a 'new house' and 'chambers over the
Exchequer of the . . . bridge', which seem to have
been built that year, (fn. 27) were designated gaols. (fn. 28)
These were the mayor's kidcote, or debtors' prison
as it was later called, which stood on the opposite
side of the bridge to the felons' gaol. (fn. 29) In the same
year this prison was leased to John Trewe at £6 a
year. (fn. 30) Certain prisoners in the 'chambers', who had
contributed to the repair of their prison, were protected in their lodging, until their death or enlargement, in return for a small annual rent. (fn. 31) It seems
that this building was safer than the sheriffs' kidcote.
It was discovered in 1584 that a seminary priest
had been conversing with recusants confined in the
sheriffs' kidcote and to check this abuse such
prisoners as were there 'for religion' were removed
into the mayor's kidcote, the debtors in that prison
being transferred to the sheriffs'. (fn. 32) In 1655 the
debtors' prison was rebuilt. (fn. 33) In 1724 this building
and an adjacent house were bought from the corporation out of a fund jointly subscribed by the city
and The Ainsty and a new 'free prison' for both
areas put up on the site. (fn. 34) Drake thought that, considering the narrowness of the site, the new prison
was 'as commodious and convenient' as any in the
land. (fn. 35) Prisoners in the kidcotes, as elsewhere in
England, had the right to beg from passers-by, a
right first granted to them in 1579 (fn. 36) and still exercised in 1729. (fn. 37) About 1776 they were selling nets,
purses, and laces. (fn. 38)
In Howard's day the felons' prison consisted of
two rooms below ground, one each for male and
female felons, with various 'horrid caverns' still
lower down. At ground-level there was a more
recently built and well-lit room for prisoners awaiting trial. The building was subject to flooding, for
some of its barred windows, as may be seen from
Halfpenny's drawing of 1807, (fn. 39) were well below the
roadway. The debtors' prison comprised four 'convenient chambers', a 'free ward' and a room to the
street, presumably what was called 'the debtors'
hall'. Howard condemned the building as bad. In
1779 there were 12 debtors and 2 felons. (fn. 40) After the
new City Gaol had been opened in 1807 (see below)
the felons' kidcote was abandoned and was taken
down in 1810; (fn. 41) the debtors' kidcote was turned into
three dwellings (fn. 42) and demolished with the bridge
about the same time. (fn. 43)
Before turning to developments in the 19th century it may be noted that in the 16th century the
city maintained other prisons besides the kidcotes.
One of these stood near the city moat, in the region
called the Bean Hills, about mid-way between Fishergate and Walmgate Bars. It was for both men
and women, and was used at one time for recusants
and in 1606 for beggars and vagrants. (fn. 44) Perhaps it
was actually in the guard room of Fishergate Bar,
later called Bean Hills gate. (fn. 45) In 1577 Monk Bar
was made into a prison (fn. 46) and was so used in 1583. (fn. 47)
A prison on the King's Staith for trespassers at the
staith was ordered to be made in 1585. (fn. 48) These new
prisons may have been temporarily needed to cope
with the flood of convicted or suspected recusants. (fn. 49)
After Howard's visitation a few towns began to
rebuild their prisons. York was among them and was
one of only six to spend upon that object any substantial sum of money. (fn. 50) It took its decision in 1801
and chose a site adjacent to the Old Baile, now
covered by Baile Hill Terrace, Falkland Street, and
parts of Newton Terrace and Kyme Street. (fn. 51) The
building, called for some years afterwards the City
Gaol, was begun in 1802 and finished in 1807. Peter
Atkinson (the younger) was the architect. Like its
predecessor it was in the beginning designed for
both the city and The Ainsty. Enclosed within a
brick wall, ¾ mile in circumference, it was a stone
building of two stories and an attic, adorned with a
cupola and vase. On the ground floor were cells for
male and female felons and misdemeanants, day
rooms, two yards, and a bath-room. On the floor
above, reached by a flight of steps, were large sleeping rooms for debtors and a gallery 170 feet long, and
in the attic four more debtors' rooms and a chapel.
There were gardens at back and front and in the
front garden debtors were allowed to walk. The
governor's lodgings were mainly in an 'outshot'
building behind the prison. (fn. 52) In the early years of
the century the corporation seems to have managed
the prison well; it employed a chaplain and surgeon,
before the law directed it to do so, and it kept the
building clean. (fn. 53) The prison, however, was little
used, and in 1836 contained, apart from debtors,
only two prisoners awaiting trial. (fn. 54)
York was one of 17 towns whose prisons were
brought within the terms of the Gaol Act of 1823, a
statute primarily designed to regulate the gaols of
counties. (fn. 55) To meet the requirements of that Act,
which included the classification of prisoners, the
corporation spent upon enlarging and refashioning
the building a sum roughly equal to the cost of constructing it. (fn. 56) Early in 1838, however, the city felons
were transferred to the castle, and between August
and November of that year the new gaol was converted into the city House of Correction, (fn. 57) and that
establishment closed. Though the amalgam was still
apt to be called 'the City Prison', its character as a
house of correction was paramount henceforth.
Upon amalgamation the corporation at once
removed the 'heavy stone building' in front and
lowered the walls between the airing yards, thus
reducing dampness. (fn. 58) Never again, however, did it
make any extensive alterations, and in 1857 the
Inspector of Prisons described the building as
'straggling and inconvenient'. (fn. 59) No attempt was
made to adapt the prison to the more stringent
demands of the Prisons Act (1865), and between
1867 and 1869 it was closed for good. (fn. 60) It was
demolished in 1880. (fn. 61)
After 1838 the health of the prisoners and the
cleanliness of the buildings were always commended,
although in the forties the diet was inadequate. (fn. 62) In
other respects the prison was not a good one. The
staff, which in 1835 had consisted of a keeper, underkeeper and porter, and matron (fn. 63) had not been increased by 1851, (fn. 64) though it numbered three more
in 1864. (fn. 65) There was therefore insufficient supervision, resulting in lax discipline and constant communication between the prisoners. No schoolmaster
was ever appointed and the prisoners either taught
one another (fn. 66) or received occasional lessons from
the chaplain. (fn. 67) In the forties, too, there was not
enough work to do (fn. 68) and the only form it took at
any time was breaking stones and cutting wood. In
1848 and 1850 the prison was looked upon as a place
of refuge by impoverished inhabitants of York and
Irish vagrants resorting to the city, who deliberately
committed offences so that they might be consigned
to it. On arrival they received food and shelter and
on discharge sums of money and new clothes. (fn. 69)
Parsimony was one reason for the inefficiency of
the prison. Another was divided control. The city
magistrates were nominally responsible, but the city
council provided the funds. Both authorities visited
the prison and issued conflicting instructions to the
staff. (fn. 70) The annual daily average of prisoners in this
period ranged from 48 in 1851 and 1853 (fn. 71) to 27 in
1855 (fn. 72) and 1865. (fn. 73) In 1848 committals were only for petty thefts and vagrancy, more serious offenders
going to the castle. (fn. 74) This rule, however, does not
seem to have been adhered to, for in 1863 the
inspector found it necessary to recommend that no
prisoner sentenced to a longer term than two months
should be sent to the House of Correction. (fn. 75)
Houses of Correction
The close connexion established in the 16th century between misdemeanour and idleness, idleness
and poverty, makes it natural to speak next of the
city's houses of correction. By 1551 arrangements
were already being made to use part of St. Anthony's
Hall as a poor house, (fn. 76) and in 1567 the corporation
decreed that a weaving-shop for the able-bodied
poor should be established within it. (fn. 77) In 1569 both
St. George's House and St. Anthony's were furnished
as weaving-shops and two overseers were appointed,
each of whom was to set to work the able and willing
poor of two wards. The idle were to be reported to
the mayor and aldermen. (fn. 78) In 1576 St. George's was
converted into a house of correction (fn. 79) and next year
both it and St. Anthony's were provided with mills
for the forcible employment of the roguish. (fn. 80) In
1586 St. Anthony's was repaired and part of it converted into a second house of correction, (fn. 81) but in
1598 its mills and looms were moved to St. George's
House. (fn. 82) Perhaps St. Anthony's ceased to be used
as a house of correction in the earlier 17th century,
but by 1655, (fn. 83) if not before, (fn. 84) its lower story was
equipped or re-equipped for that purpose and a
house of correction remained within the Hall until
1814. When Howard paid his visit (c. 1776) there
were two day-rooms for men and women separately,
and five night-rooms for men and one for women,
but no court, no water, and no sewer. The premises
were 'dirty and offensive'. In June 1779 there were
eight prisoners. (fn. 85) By the time of Neild's visits (1802,
1809) conditions seem to have been somewhat better;
at any rate there was then an infirmary. (fn. 86)
How long St. George's House lasted as a house
of correction after 1598 has not been established, but
it was at least long enough for its name to have been
corrupted into Jersey House. The timber building
still stood in the later 19th century. (fn. 87)
In 1814 a new house of correction was opened on
Toft Green. Designed by Peter Atkinson (the
younger), it was mainly of white brick and consisted
of four distinct buildings surrounded by a high brick
wall. One of these buildings, octagonal in shape, was
the governor's residence. This contained a chapel,
and from the chapel doors open galleries led into the
other three buildings. Each of these consisted of 'two
distinct prisons' and each was equipped with four
lodging-rooms, a day-room, a work-room, a solitary
cell, and a yard with water pipe and water closet.
This subdivision enabled prisoners to be carefully
classified. Round the buildings was a garden. (fn. 88) The
prison was staffed by a keeper, under-keeper and
porter, and matron, and the services of a chaplain
and surgeon were shared with the City Gaol. (fn. 89)
The prison was built at the joint cost of the city
and The Ainsty, the city defraying three-fifths of the
whole, and at first served both areas. (fn. 90) The number
of prisoners varied a good deal, rising to 124 at
Michaelmas 1823 (fn. 91) and falling to an annual average
of 22 in 1836. (fn. 92) Race week, presumably the one in
August, was said to crowd it out. (fn. 93) The reannexation
of The Ainsty to the West Riding in 1836 (fn. 94) reduced
requirements, and the Inspector of Prisons reported
that he thought one prison was enough for the city. (fn. 95)
By 1838 the corporation had closed it and disposed
of the site and buildings. The misdemeanants were
transferred to the City Gaol, which thus became
primarily a house of correction, and the debtors to
the castle. (fn. 96)
Davy Hall
Davygate takes its name from Davy Hall, a building now demolished, and Davy Hall in turn from
the family of David the larderer. This family was
one of high antiquity, tracing its ancestry back to
the early 12th century if not to a remoter time. (fn. 97) It
exercised by inheritance the function of stocking the
king's larder in York with both game and domestic
animals, (fn. 98) and kindred rights and privileges which
may have been implicit in that function or have subsequently accrued to it.
The first of the York larderers known by name
was called John. To him and to his son David (I)
King Stephen confirmed between 1135 and 1137
certain unspecified socage tenements, together with
the larderership, as father and son had held them in
King Henry's time. (fn. 99) Presumably the lands had
been given in recompence for the burdens of office.
A larderer of York is not mentioned again until 1173
when the Crown began to pay David the larderer,
presumably the same as the foregoing, a livery of
£7 12s. 1d. a year, or 5d. a day, out of the issues of
Yorkshire. (fn. 1) David's son Thomas succeeded to that
wage and continued to receive it until 1189. (fn. 2) In that
year the sum appears twice over in the pipe roll, once
as a livery and once among the terre date. This suggests the intention to transmute the annual payments into a territorial reward. But whatever the intention may have been, the sum drops out of the pipe
rolls completely for some time to come, so it must
be supposed that, if the larderership went on, its
only profit was the land that King Stephen had confirmed.
It is not until 1219 that the evidence about the
larderership is resumed. David (II) the larderer,
Thomas's son, then appears as the keeper of the
gaol of Galtres Forest, and the vendor of those
beasts which had been taken in distraint for the
payment of the king's debts. In 1226-8 the reward
for this serjeanty is defined as a plot of ground (unam
terram) in York, and the value of the serjeanty is
expressed as 5s. (fn. 3) Presumably this plot was Davy
Hall, (fn. 4) which was to become the prison of the larder.
In the pipe roll of 1230 the daily wage of 5d. recurs,
though now it issued out of the city farm, (fn. 5) and the
same sum was allowed out of the same issues for
centuries to come. (fn. 6) Later documents declare this
wage to have been paid to the larderers for keeping
the forest gaol, (fn. 7) though in 1252 it was said to be due
for selling the distresses. (fn. 8) The wage is actually the
same as that that had been paid since 1130 to the
warden of the Fleet Prison, so at first sight it looks
like the rate appropriate to a gaoler of the better
sort. (fn. 9) More probably, however, the earlier statement
is the truer, and after the larderer's functions as the
salesman of distresses had been swept away, (fn. 10) the
wage was justified upon the other ground. At all
events David was now a gaoler in fee, an uncommon though not a unique figure in 13th-century
society, (fn. 11) in hereditary charge of almost the only
special forest prison known to history. A little later
on we learn rather more about the history of the
prison building of which he was in charge. It seems
to have been a royal building, repaired in the
shrievalty of Geoffrey de Neville (1216-22) out of
the king's revenues and with timber from the forest.
After Geoffrey's day its custody was conveyed to
David by charter, but the responsibility for its repair
was left in doubt. After a public inquiry in 1247
the cost of maintenance was firmly set upon the
Exchequer in 1248. (fn. 12)
About the time of this award David started proceedings against the citizens of York in the King's
Bench, with the idea of asserting the privileges of
his serjeanty, some of which the citizens were challenging. (fn. 13) The matter was referred to the justicesin-eyre, who in the eyre at York in 1252 secured
from a local jury a statement of the rights and duties
of the larderer's office. The statement showed that
David and his ancestors were required to 'make' the
king's larder, to have the measurement for the king
of all corn sold in the city, to look after the forest
'prisons' and to act as the king's purveyors. All these
functions were said to have been authorized by
charter. David himself laid no express claim to
the third and fourth of these rights or duties;
perhaps they were burdensome and unprofitable.
He claimed, however, to take from every baker,
bread shop, alewife, and flesh shamble in the city
certain fixed weekly tolls, either in cash or kind, and
similar tolls from carts and packhorses entering the
city laden with sea fish. (fn. 14) He also said that it was his
privilege to distrain for the king's debts within the
city and take 4d. for each distress. (fn. 15) The jurors
admitted that David exercised all these further
liberties, and that since the days of Henry II his
ancestors had exercised them, as parcel of their
serjeanty, 'until they were hindered therein'. They
expressed no view, however, about the authority for
their exercise. In the upshot the suit was compromised, David accepting 20 marks from the city
in return for releasing all the liberties not grounded
upon a charter.
David died in 1271. He was then seised of a
house in York, his 5d. a day, two yearly rents within
the city, lands in Bustardthorpe (W.R.), and land
called 'Cotteburn'. All these he held by the serjeanty of keeping the gaol and the larder and selling
the king's distresses. For every such sale 2s. 8d. was
due to David. (fn. 16) The third of these liberties was one
that had been released to the city in 1253. Evidently
it had since been revived. More than this, David
was now exacting at each distress eight times the
original levy. David was succeeded by David (III)
(d. 1280) (fn. 17) and he by Philip the larderer, whose right
to the levy was challenged by the Crown in 1293
upon a quo warranto. (fn. 18) Indeed by this time Philip
was taking 3s. 4d. or ten times the original levy at
each distress, even when the money raised by a sale
did not exceed the levy. The Crown confiscated the
liberty and amerced the offender. Philip also failed
to claim on the first day of the eyre his rights to the
custody of forest prisoners, his daily fee, (fn. 19) and
estate (landam) in the forest, and his rights to chase
hares and foxes, and these lands and rights were
likewise confiscated. Whatever the effect of this forfeiture may have been, Philip died in 1305 seised
of Davy Hall, his daily fee, and a rent in Bustardthorpe, all which he held by keeping the prison. (fn. 20)
David's practice of exacting tolls from the catering
trades and deducting brokerage upon the sale of
distresses, and Philip's resumption of the second of
these practices, easily give rise to the suspicion of
extortion. Such an imputation may be just. It is,
however, also possible to infer that the duties attaching to their offices were out of proportion to the
covenanted rewards. Their estates were never large, and their daily fee, settled in 1173-4, had probably
lost its value with the progress of inflation.
When Philip died his lands were partitioned between his daughters Margaret and Ellen. (fn. 21) Margaret
married Ralph de Leek (fn. 22) and Ellen, John de Clifton, (fn. 23)
who predeceased Leek. (fn. 24) When Ralph died in 1353
the property, as defined in 1305, was being held
jointly by him and by John de Wythornsee, husband
of Ellen's daughter Alice. The premises in York
were then worth no more than the cost of maintaining the gaol. (fn. 25)
Ralph left no children, and Robert, John de
Wythornsee's minor son, became heir to Margaret's
purparty and presumptive heir to Ellen's also. The
property is next heard of in 1369 when John de
Thornton died seised of both purparties in right of
his wife Alice. (fn. 26) It seems clear from this that Robert
never succeeded to his inheritance. John de Thornton like John Wythornsee married an Alice, so perhaps the two are the same person. If not the descent
of the lands upon John de Thornton remains unexplained. John was succeeded by Robert Thornton,
'of Davygate', who died in 1425 seised of 'the manor'
of Davygate, called the prison of the larder, and
rents in Bustardthorpe and Hessle (E.R.). He continued to keep the prison, but it was then ruinous
and worth nothing. He also drew his daily wage
from the citizens of York, and enjoyed vert, venison,
and hunting rights in Galtres. (fn. 27) The property
descended to Joan his daughter and her husband
John Thwaites and from them to the Fairfax family
by the marriage (ante 1519) of Isabel Thwaites to
Sir William Fairfax. (fn. 28) In 1679 Henry, Lord Fairfax
owned it. (fn. 29)
By Philip and Mary's time Davy Hall was being
treated as a 'liberty' into which the city officers had
no right of entry. (fn. 30) By 1679 this immunity had
attracted a 'poor class' of artisans, chiefly shoemakers, for whose benefit the hall had been split up
into tenements, and who, to the dismay of their
'respectable' fellow tradesmen, produced or sold
within it undressed or ill-tanned leather and illmade footwear. Probably in consequence of continuing abuses the corporation began in 1719 to
treat for purchase and 'a few years after' concluded
with the owner. (fn. 31) In 1744 they ordered its demolition. Part of the site was turned into a new burial
ground for St. Helen's, Stonegate, and part into
a new road, New Street, in which Charles Mitley
and William Carr erected in 1746 six houses called
Cumberland Row after the Duke of Cumberland. (fn. 32)
Of Davy Hall as a prison very little is known.
Philip the larderer was in effective custody of venison
trespassers in 1289 (fn. 33) and the prison was being used
for like offenders in 1370 (fn. 34) and 1389. (fn. 35) By 1392,
however, a person suspected of a forest offence was
shut up in York castle. (fn. 36) In any case it would be rash
to assume that forest offenders were always enclosed
in the larderer's prison, even in its prime.
Peter Prison
From early times the chapter exercised an independent jurisdiction over their tenants both within
the city and without. When Howard visited the gaol
of the liberty (1776-9) the jurisdictional area comprised 9 'places' within the city and The Ainsty,
62 in the East Riding, 40 in the West, and 51 in the
North, 7 in Nottinghamshire, and 1 each in Devon,
Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, and Northumberland. (fn. 37) By 1836 the liberty
was gradually falling into abeyance but constables,
and innkeepers seeking licences, still travelled from
18 to 50 miles to attend the sessions of its courts. (fn. 38)
In 1789 these courts comprised quarter sessions, a
three-weekly court for civil pleas, and a twice-yearly
court leet and view of frankpledge, called the sheriff's
tourn. To keep these courts the chapter employed
their own officers, who included a steward, and a
clerk of the peace and under-steward. (fn. 39) In 1810 the
county justices were given concurrent jurisdiction
within the liberty, (fn. 40) which must have abated the
chapter's privileges very greatly. (fn. 41)
Attached to this liberty was a prison, called in
early days 'Seyntepetreprisons'. This prison at first
stood where Stonegate enters the Minster Yard (now
Minster Gates, Deangate), and is first mentioned in
1275. (fn. 42) In 1311 the chapter granted it in fee farm to
Richard Tunnok of York, who was to pay yearly
rents for it to the Prebendary of Osbaldwick, the
chapter itself, and St. Leonard's Hospital. (fn. 43) It was
being delivered by the king's justices in 1376 and
was therefore presumably used for felons at that
time. (fn. 44) It is a curious fact that though testators in
the late 14th century left money to its prisoners (fn. 45)
those in the 15th and 16th centuries do not seem to
have done so although they remembered the
prisoners in the castle, the kidcotes and the archbishop's prison. In 1570 Peter Prison appears to
have possessed a chapel. (fn. 46)
The prison was moved at an unknown date to a
site lying within the Lop Lane gate of the precincts. (fn. 47) In Howard's time and later it formed part
of the 'hall of pleas', for the liberty, to which access
was gained up a flight of steps. The 'hall' consisted
of a court room and jury room at the top, and below
two day and two night rooms for prisoners and two
cells. The gaoler's dwelling had been added to the court house and prison shortly before Howard's
visit. Howard found the building out of repair,
Hargrove deplored its 'wretched state', and the
Inspector of Prisons in 1836 declared that it was
'without a single requisite for a prison'. (fn. 48) The actual
numbers imprisoned were 4 in 1818, 10 in 1820, and
1 in 1832. (fn. 49) By 1838 the prison had been pulled
down and the jurisdiction was in abeyance. (fn. 50)
Archbishop's Prison
The archbishop had a gaol in York by 1351 (fn. 51) —
the 'bishop prison' or 'convict prison' as it was sometimes later called. Presumably it was for criminous
clerks and those who had successfully pleaded
clergy, (fn. 52) and to the prisoners in it bequests were
made until at least 1550. (fn. 53) After that they cease
perhaps because the great reduction in clergiable
offences about that time made such a prison no
longer necessary. The prison was in the archbishop's
palace by 1385. (fn. 54) Its more precise location is not
known with certainty, but it is likely that the crypt
below St. Sepulchre's Chapel was used for the purpose. (fn. 55) At all events, when the chapel, long since
converted into a public house, was demolished in
1816, an underground room (32×9×9 feet), fitted
up as a prison, was discovered beneath it. (fn. 56)
Drake thought the archbishop's prison was within
the Old Baile, but gave no reason for that view.
Possibly a second prison, for lay offenders, once
stood therein. (fn. 57)
St. Mary's Prison
By 1289 the liberty of St. Mary contained its own
gaol, (fn. 58) which was being delivered by the king's
justices in 1322. (fn. 59) The abbey's right to keep this
gaol was expressly granted by charter in 1448. (fn. 60)
After the Dissolution the liberty was preserved, and
its privileges confirmed to its steward by charters of
James I and Charles I. The privileges, which included the maintenance of a debtors' prison beside
the north gate of the abbey, were continued until
the death in 1722 of Thomas Adams, Recorder of
York and steward of the liberty. Thereafter the
stewardship was left unfilled. By 1736 the prison of
the liberty was 'neglected' and the adjacent court
room had almost disappeared. (fn. 61)
Gallows
According to a story often repeated but of questionable authenticity, the citizens of York first used
as their place of execution the gallows of the liberty
of St. Mary's Abbey (see below). In 1379, however,
in consequence of a dispute with the monks, they
determined to erect a gallows of their own. This was
placed 'where the gibbet post stood' on the west side
of Knavesmire opposite York Moor (i.e. Hob Moor),
and acquired the name of the York 'Tyburn', presumably in imitation of the London gallows of that
name. (fn. 62) From the earlier 16th century until 1801, (fn. 63)
the gallows seems to have been used by both the
city and the county. But was it used uninterruptedly?
The evidence, such as it is, is not easy to interpret.
Drake says that the county gallows first stood within
the castle, (fn. 64) and Hargrove that a gallows was erected
on Knavesmire in 1708. (fn. 65) Drake's statement need
only mean that the gallows had been in the castle
before 1379. Hargrove's is more puzzling, for it is
tolerably clear that county executions were taking
place at Tyburn up to 1699. (fn. 66) Perhaps the truth is
that there was once a single gallows on Knavesmire
for city and county, that, for a while, only one
gallows stood there, and that after 1708 a second
gallows was erected near the first. Late 18th-century
references to the 'old gallows' outside Micklegate
Bar suggest that there were then two constructions. (fn. 67)
The Knavesmire gallows was (or were) removed in
1812. (fn. 68) When the castle buildings were being enlarged at the beginning of the 19th century, (fn. 69) a
'drop' was constructed between the castle wall and
St. George's Field. It was first used in 1802, (fn. 70)
altered in 1870-1 so as to exclude it from public
view, (fn. 71) last used in 1896, (fn. 72) and dismantled in 1930. (fn. 73)
A 'drop' behind the city prison was in use in 1809
and 1821. (fn. 74)
St. Mary's own gallows is first recorded in
1444-5. (fn. 75) The site and gallows may have passed to
the chapter. (fn. 76) The gallows may still have been
standing in 1733, (fn. 77) but had been demolished by
1802. (fn. 78) Its site was at Gallows Closes, Burton Stone
Lane. (fn. 79) St. Leonard's Hospital also had a gallows
which stood at Garrow Hill in Green Dykes Lane.
Recorded from 1374-5 (fn. 80) until 1444-5, (fn. 81) it was out
of use by 1500. (fn. 82) It was again in use in 1571, (fn. 83) and was often used until 1676. (fn. 84) It was removed in
1700. (fn. 85)
A few other gallows may be mentioned. Besides
succeeding to St. Mary's gallows, the chapter also
had a gallows at White Cross Hill in the Horsefair
near the present junction of Haxby and Wigginton
roads. (fn. 86) It was in use in 1690, and was rebuilt in
1693. (fn. 87) The archbishops are said to have once had
a scaffold on Foss Bridge. (fn. 88) A gallows belonging to
Holy Trinity Priory had been covered by St. James's
Chapel as early as 1150-4. (fn. 89) A gallows in the Hull
Road, at a point called Gallows Hole, had been
abandoned by 1693. (fn. 90)