Winter's Gibbet

What could be more creepy that a lone pole used to display a corpse? What if the lone pole was situated in stark moorland in the absolute middle of nowhere? That's probably why I have always visited the Winter's Gibbet during the middle of the day, otherwise I think I would be freaking out.

Way back in 1791 a lady called Margaret Crozier lived in the nearby village of Raw. Believing her to be rich, a chap called William Winter and two female accomplices (Jane and Eleanor Clark) broke in to her house, murdered the old woman and then made off with her goods.

The keen eye of a shepherd boy who had seen them the night before managed to bring them to justice.

The three of them were then hung at Westgate in Newcastle on the 10th August 1792. Winter's body was then taken to Steng Cross, not far from the actual murder and was hung in chains on the gibbet for many years until even his clothes had rotted away.

The gibbet was made for Winter alone and no one else hung from it. After that the gibbet was dismantled.

Then in 1867 Walter Trevelyan, owner of the land and the Wallington Estate, built a replica gibbet with a wooden mannequin in the same location. This deteriorated and was replaced with what you see now.

Also on the site is a base for an old Anglo Saxon cross called Steng Cross. This is the white block you can see in the photos.

This also marked the highest point on an ancient drove road when cattle were driven down from Scotland to the markets in England.

Some people have said to have seen Winter's spectre wandering the moors at night.

Sleep tight!