Where People Were Led To Their Deaths In World's Most Haunted City

York is often considered the world's most haunted city, but how were their worst criminals executed over 800 years, all the way up to the haunting final day? But we're starting on a platform in the year 1379, when a 20-year-old soldier was sentenced to death at York Castle. Edward Hewison was led out from the castle site on March 31st to begin the mile-long parade through the city. Crossing the river at Ouse Bridge, surrounded by guards and hostile crowds, he was led up Micklegate and through the city's southern entrance, known as Micklegate Bar, which became famous for displaying the heads of traitors. But Edward's grim journey continued on, half a mile down the main road south of York. A journey which would be taken by hundreds of condemned men and women for centuries to come. Until they reached a platform beside the road. Hundreds of eager members of the public gathered round in the surrounding marshy field. They were looking forward towards the raised platform on which stood the three-legged mare, just like the three-legged mare of the Tyburn in London, professionally known as the Gallows. Then, on March 31st 1379, Edward Hewison became the first person to be executed at York Tyburn. But the Tyburn was just one site used by the Crown's authorities, and their other brutal execution stories can still be seen hiding away in plain sight now. So three other medieval authorities in York possessed their own gallows too. York Minster had its own church-administered prison and gallows, placed next to the major road entering York from the north. As did the great St Mary's Abbey, first built in 1088 and once one of the largest religious houses in England. Also the gargantuan medieval St Leonard's Hospital, who also possessed a gallows near the Warmgate Bar entrance to the city. The closest pub to this bar takes its name from the last two men to hang at this location. But the city's authorities didn't always use the Tyburn for the most serious of cases. The castle itself, founded by William the Conqueror, was used since the 11th century. For example, Robert Aske was hanged in chains from Clifford's Tower itself in 1537 for his role in the Pilgrimage of Grace against King Henry VIII. Later that decade was the rising of the North against Queen Elizabeth in 1569. The co-leader of that rebellion was the noble Henry Percy, 7th Earl of Northumberland, who was brought to pavement in York, where the markets were held, where the famous Christmas market is still held today. Refusing to denounce his Catholic faith, he was led to a wooden scaffold on this street. His head was chopped and placed on Micklegate Bar. And to this day, inside All Saints Church on pavement, symbolically beneath a royal coat of arms, as a lasting reminder of capital punishment, you can find old replicas of the original sword, gauntlets and helmet of Henry Percy. But you'll notice a problem with all of these locations that finally led to change, and the final victim at York Tyburn was a shocking coincidence. See these great execution spectacles presented 1800 York with two problems. You'll notice where all the gallows locations mentioned are situated, besides major routes into the city. The reason was obvious, to act as a message, a deterrent to would-be criminals and traitors. But in a growing city like Georgian York was, having these mightily popular events causing bottlenecks was becoming a problem. But more gruesomely, York had now become Britain's elite Georgian social hub outside of London. To this day you can see the grandeur of the architecture lining the street towards the Tyburn. But with the Tyburn active, the elite's entry to the city consisted of seeing a hanging body beside the entrance road and then heads on the entrance gate. Not exactly a warm first impression, so after over 400 years of parading the condemned from York castle to the Tyburn, it was time for change, where the coincidence of the final victim was mind-blowing. York Tyburn had witnessed some of England's most notable executions, such as the infamous highwayman Dick Turpin. As well as Nicholas Postgate in 1679, an 82-year-old priest who was hanged, disembodied and quartered on this spot, making him almost the last Catholic martyr in English history. But on August 29th, 1801, the three-legged mayor's last victim was sentenced, again at York Castle, where 422 years prior, Edward Hewison was sentenced. Now he was actually sentenced for an SA offence. But this time, the condemned man was 19 years old. He was also a soldier, also called Edward, and also convicted of the exact same offence. So the famous Tyburn was now retired. York's record for most executions in a day was still to be set. So even though the Tyburn was now retired, the public still had a thirst. See, the Tyburn executions were scheduled for the same day as York races, where York's great and good would bet on the horses in the afternoon. This was after taking the short walk across the Knavesmire from where the day of fun had begun at the Tyburn, where in the morning they'd enjoyed and gambled on the executions. The hangings were part of this great day of fun, so York's authorities found a solution that resulted in a record day. In January 1814, a large group of men were brought to this building. York Assize Court was built in the 1770s at, of course, York Castle. This large group were Luddites who had recently attacked Rawfolds Mill, destroying the machines. A portion of the group were sentenced to die on January 16th, 1813. But now, instead of parading the men to the Tyburn and causing a ruckus, they were simply led out of a new door right beside the court on the castle site, where a vast concourse of people covered St George's Field down below the ridge. They were looking up at the mound where the city's scaffold had now been moved to, known as the New Drop. And on the new drop, January the 16th 1813, the city high record of 14 prisoners were unalived. But it wasn't long until York's authorities claimed one last victim, which left a harrowing feature. It was this kind of rowdiness and carnival atmosphere that became the issue. Sympathies were also shifting with the Victorians, such as the great Charles Dickens, a frequent visitor to York, describing the whole spectacle as a ghastly sight. So, in 1868 the Capital Punishment Amendment Act was passed, meaning any death sentence in the UK must be carried out within the walls of the prison, plus all bodies must be buried within the castle grounds too. So, on the 4th of April 1868, Frederick Parker became the last man to suffer in public at York, before the gallows were taken inside the walls. That was until 30 years later, on the 2nd of December 1896, a Swedish sailor named August Karlsson stood trial at York Castle. He and his wife both lived lives of drunks, which ultimately crescendoed when August killed her in a drunken fit at their home in Hull. The jury made a strong recommendation for mercy, but nonetheless, August was condemned to death. Then taken to the imposing building opposite, which was designed to mimic the courthouse. This is now known as York Female Prison, built in the 1780s to ease overcrowding problems in the adjacent prison. But on the 22nd December 1896, August Carlson was led to the north side of this building. At the time, an extension occupied the area right in front of me now. So this white door was very much tucked away within the depths of the castle compound, but 800 years after the Conqueror first made this very ground a seat of royal justice, 517 years after York's first official crown execution at the Tyburn, August Carlson was led out of this exact white door, as only eight others had done before him, to what was then known as the last drop and hanged on this exact spot, marking the last case of capital punishment in the history of York.