Hi folks! Apologies we've been a bit quiet, we've been working on some really exciting videos to share with you over the next few weeks. In the meantime, we'd like to finish our theme of prison reform with some facts about executions. (TW: Death Penalty)

The gallows in our exercise yard are used to demonstrate how hangings changed over time. But did you know? No executions actually took place here! They were either done on the front steps of our building or at Gallows Hill, on the top of Mansfield road.

Georgian hangings were often done in public and were seen as a form as entertainment. Local merchants would sell their wares, and many onlookers would drink, bring picnics, and jeer at the person on the gallows. However, after much protest, things began to change.

In the Victorian period, hangings became private. Not only that, mathematics were used to quicken the process. It was thought to be kinder to the person being executed, but it was still awful. Here's some later equipment, which is on display in our Capital Punishment exhibit:

Many years later, in 1965, the Murder Act was passed, which meant that executions were replaced with a mandatory life sentence. The trapdoors from the gallows at Wandsworth Prison are on display at our museum to remind us of how far we've come (and how far we have to go!)