A COMMEMORATIVE plaque is to be placed and dedicated by the Bishop of St Germans in a special ceremony at the town’s St Thomas Church on October 31 as part of Launceston Old Cornwall Society’s 75th anniversary.

The unveiling of a slate plate, carved by Mr David Gynn, will be placed at St Thomas the Apostle Church to remember those who were executed in Launceston Castle between 1200 and 1821, when the last execution took place in the town.

Providing a bit more background information, Launceston Old Cornwall Society member Rob Tremain said: “Life was certainly hard in old Lanson. Punishment was severe, even for what we think of today as minor offences.

“In 1286, at a court held at Launceston, the Prior of Launceston is named as one of 14 lords who then had the right of a gallows there. Since ancient times the Prior had had this power; and there is still a strip of waste ground at St Stephen’s (near the site of the original Priory) known as ‘Gallows Hill’ where hangings took place before and after the Conquest.

“According to the St Thomas churchwardens’ accounts, dating from the end of the 15th century, the parish used to have the duty of providing of ropes for executions and the subsequent disposal of the bodies.

“Dead bodies were borne to St Thomas from the Castle either in carts or on biers — frames of wood known as ‘ladders’ similar to a more modern hand-barrow.

“It has long been a Launceston tradition that the bodies of those executed at the Castle (which lies in the parish of St Thomas) were buried on the north side of the path through the churchyard leading towards the Town Mills.”

On March 23, 1785, a chimneysweep was executed at St Stephens for the murder of his apprentice.

The burglary at the Launceston Post Office, for which two men were hanged in 1805, caused a great sensation. There is a tradition that the men were taken in an open cart, with rope around their necks, from our gaol to Gallows Hill at St Stephens, followed by a large crowd.

In 1818 William Rowe of Stoke Climsland suffered the death penalty for sheep stealing. His father waited at the Westgate Inn for his son’s body to be released, which he afterwards took away in an open cart. The executioner at this time was an Exeter man for whom a special rope was always manufactured by Lanson roper Richard Heath; who exhibited it on his market stall the previous market day.

The last execution which took place at Launceston was that of Thomson and Barnicott in 1821 for the murder of a farmer near Probus. They were buried in St Thomas Churchyard, on the right-hand side about half-way up the path. Local tradition has it that until the early 1900s the marks of the graves were still visible on frosty mornings.

Mr Tremain added: “In this quiet churchyard a pit was dug for them, the bodies washed, and they were cast into their earthen bed, and ‘there they lie, heaps upon heaps!’ No register reveals the name, the sex, or even the fact of interment, of these friendless, hapless creatures. Let us remember them today.”

As part of their 75th anniversary, Launceston Old Cornwall Society are placing a commemorative plaque at St Thomas to remember these events. The dedication ceremony, at 2.30pm on Sunday, October 31, will be performed by Rt Rev Hugh Nelson, Bishop of St Germans, and the Rev Alison Hardy who ably liaised the project for the society with the church authorities. Also attending will be Mrs Karin Easton, President of the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, and the Mayor of Launceston, Cllr Leighton Penhale.

All welcome for tea and biscuits in the adjoining church hall.