The outer wall is 3 metres (9.8ft) thick; along the exterior are buttresses at each corner and in the middle of each wall. It is uncertain when the keep was built, although it probably dates to the 12th century[9] when it was the residence for the lord of the castlethe owner or his representative. Before the introduction of the Borstal System, children were regularly imprisoned alongside adult offenders. A famous moniker used for Lancaster Castle was 'the hanging town' as it was considered to sentence more prisoners to death than at any other court in England. Executions | Lancaster Castle : Lancaster Castle [24], Prison reformer John Howard (17261790) visited Lancaster in 1776 and noted the conditions in the prison. The Shire Hall is currently not accessible for tours while work is undertaken to upgrade the Fire Alarm. 10,144 enrolled on this course. In 1322 and 1389 the Scots invaded England, progressing as far as Lancaster and damaging the castle. On March 25th 1865 Stephen Burke was hanged for the murder of his wife, this was the last public execution at the Castle. The oak timbers in the Gatehouse were probably felled in, or around, AD 1404. Lancaster Castle opens fully to the public - BBC News Alexander and Michael were both dressed in blue coats and black cravats, and Alexander wore a black waistcoat, while Michaels was brown and white striped. Owned by the serving monarch, HM Queen Elizabeth II, through the Duchy of Lancaster, Lancaster Castle is a wealth of English history. The Lancaster Martyrs: During this period of history fifteen Catholics were executed in Lancaster for their faith. The Pendle Witches. [48] Three storeys high, the apartment on the ground floor would probably have been used by the Constable of the castle; the two floors above had three rooms each. According to Faraday it was a little after ten oclock when the McKeans reached the public house. [53] However, it is unclear where the wall would have been. What was claimed to be a verbatim account by Farady of the capture of the McKeans was published in the Stockport Advertiser some ten days prior to the executions and, interestingly, a week before they even stood trial. One, a Mr Norrys, raised his stick, while another cried out to the crowd: What would you have? He seems to have given a cogent and simple account of what must have been a terrifying ordeal. There were two beds in the room and the second was the one intended for the McKeans. In addition to its role as a fortress and a prison, the castle has also been used as a court and an execution site. Until 2011 the majority of the buildings were leased to the Ministry of Justice as HM Prison Lancaster, after which the castle was returned to the Duchy's management. By 1801, executions were no longer being carried out at the area known as Tiburn on Lancaster Moor. The castle was first used as a prison in 1196 although this aspect became more important during the English Civil War. [12], In 1554, the martyr George Marsh was held at the castle before standing trial at Chester Cathedral. In 2016 Historic England commissioned a tree-ring analysis of oak and pine timbers in the Keep and Gatehouse. The hedge had been broken from that side and a trail of footprints was visible across the turned and newly-planted field. A rule of total silence was strictly enforced and the spaces on the wheel were partitioned to frustrate communication between the prisoners. After the English Civil War, most of the gatehouse rooms were filled with debtors. A choice of 22 rooms was available, priced from 5s (25p) to 30s (1.50p). Get all the latest updates from Lancaster Castle. The Judge now asked Alexander if he wished to speak. Borstal Prison, later Borstal Institution (Young Offenders) Canterbury, County Gaol 1808 Chatham Convict Prison 1853 Maidstone, County Gaol 1817 Rochester Convict Prison, now a Prison for Women 1873 Lancashire Lancaster Castle 17 th C; Liverpool City Gaol 1854 Manchester, County Gaol 1869 Preston, County Gaol 1799 Strangeways (Manchester) Prison [34], The Crown Court continues to sit at the castle. When new gaoler John Higgin started in 1785 he received an annual salary of 200 guineas , in compensation for being no longer allowed to collect fees from debtors (as part of John Howards reforms). Another renovated building adjoining the caf is leased to Lancaster University as a campus in the city with small conference facilities. Self-procalimed 'King of the Robbers' George Lyon was not quite the romantic figure that local legend would have us believe. A History of Lancaster - Local Histories She saw the shutters partially down, but through the window she could see Margaret Marsden slumped in her chair with her back to the window. This consists of a metal holdfast designed to immobilise the wrist and fingers, whilst a red-hot branding iron embossed with the letter M was applied to the brawn of the thumb. [16] A further devastation of the town, as had been inflicted in 1389, would have been an embarrassment for the new king; his expensive programme of building at the castle helped protect against this. [38][39], A large-scale refurbishment of the castle has been underway since 2011. Out of 200 executions at Lancaster Castle, only 43 were for murder; other crimes included burglary, passing forged notes, robbery and cattle-stealing. He had stared so hard at her that she ran away. Read More Lancaster Gaol housed one of the largest Debtor's prisons in Our guided tours unlock the fascinating, and often macabre, heritage of this imposing and historically significant monument. It may well have been that their first thought was to make for Scotland. It is generally thought that Lancaster Castle was founded in the 1090s on the site of the Roman fort in a strategic location. (Image: Manchester Evening News) The castle also served as a prison from the 17th century, housing prisoners up to the year 2011. They arrived in Lancaster to find the streets thronged with people and the air filled with hooting and hissing and maledictions against the bloody murderers. Eventually the coach stopped in the market place where the prisoners alighted. The female panoptican prison is also on the cards to be included intheguided tour, as is the basement of the Well Tower where the Pendle Witches where held. The Capital Punishment Amendment Act 1868 ended public executions, requiring that criminals be put to death in private, after which 6 executions were performed inside the castle, at first from the Chapel steps, then later in a purpose-built execution shed, on the inside wall of Hanging Corner. It seems that things had begun to go wrong for the McKeans prior to the murder and they were described at their trial as being much reduced in circumstances at the time it took place. And Joseph Bleares found himself, at last, the master of what was undoubtedly a going concern.. George and Elizabeth Youngson were Lancaster's youngest convict transportees to Australia, for the crime of theft. It seems that at no time did any of them try to hide, or disguise who they were. Guided tours of the Castle include visits to its 18th century cells, Pentonville-style male penitentiary, dedicated debtors' prison area and female penitentiary based on Bentham's famous panopticon design. Lancasters Custom House and Maritime Museum, Lancaster Castle: A Brief History, John Champness (1993), Lancashire County Books, Life In Georgian Lancaster, Andrew White (2004) Carnegie Publishing, Lancaster Castle: 1000 Years of Royal Heritage, Justice, Felony and Incarceration, leaflet (undated circa 2016) available from Lancashire Tourist Information office, printed by Lancaster Castle, http://www.lancastercastle.com/history-heritage/a-dark-history/crime-punishment/, http://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/12/George-Fox, If you would like to know each time a new piece is published, just enter your email below and click 'Follow', Lancaster Castle : The Prisons andCourts, Lancaster Castle : The Fortress Lancashire Past, Lancasters Lost Roman Fort Lancashire Past, Lancaster Roman Baths and Wery Wall Lancashire Past, The Customs House : Lancaster Maritime Museum Lancashire Past, Upholland Priory, a Benedictine Monastery, near Wigan Lancashire Past, The Strange Tale of Edward Kelley at Walton-le-Dale Lancashire Past, Greenhalgh Castle, Garstang Lancashire Past, The Ruskin Library and Museum, Lancaster Lancashire Past, Galgate Silk Mill, Galgate near Lancaster Lancashire Past, A History of the Ashton Memorial, Lancaster Lancashire Past.