A movable gallows in Rutland

IN YEARS GONE BY, punishment by hanging was not a rare occurrence. The museum in Oakham, the capital of Rutland county, includes amongst its exhibits a mobile gibbet. This apparatus for hanging criminals is one of the few surviving movable gibbets (gallows) in Britain. When needed, it was moved from village to village. Unfortunately, it was designed badly. It had insufficient drop. This meant that the victim was strangled but not killed. I do not know what method was used to ‘finish off’ the unfortunate victims.