The Hanging Corpse
Sheffield, Yorkshire 1792
“...his body should be suspended between earth and Heaven, as unworthy of either”
A highwayman! My favourite! If I was around in the 1700s, I can almost guarantee I’d have been led down an evil path by a charming highwayman. And that totally is not influenced by Matthew Baynton’s portrayal of Dick Turpin in Horrible Histories, nope, not at all. Our highwayman today is Spence Broughton and the grisly details of his death continue to amaze folklore lovers in Sheffield and beyond.
Can your city claim that the body of a highwayman hung suspended for thirty-six long years? Sheffield certainly can boast this. Who was Spence Broughton and why did he meet this terrifying fate? Spence Broughton lived in London with his partner-in-crime, John Oxley. During February 1791, Broughton and Oxley hatched a cunning plan that led them to travel north... what was their grand plan? To rob the Sheffield to Rotherham mail coach!
As the pair approached Ickles (the Rotherham side of Attercliffe Common), the opportunity finally presented itself. The stories state that the only item of value was a French bill worth £123... of which the pair needed to acquire a French Dictionary and a lot of patience to even cash it out.
The pair seemingly got away with this crime, until they were caught for another robbery they attempted back in Cambridge, in which Broughton admitted guilt to ransacking the mail coach. Oxley, the slippery devil, managed to escape the cold arm of the law whilst Broughton was taken to York for his crimes. And boy was this crime taken seriously, mail was the only form of communication in the 1700s, and businesses often transported large sums of money on these coaches (despite only managing to wrangle £123 for himself).
Broughton was hung for his crimes and on the 16th October, his body was taken back to the place of his crime, Attercliffe Common, to be installed into a Gibbet. The use of gibbeting (a big ol’ bird cage looking thing) as a punishment for a crime was reserved for criminals that authorities wanted to make an example of. Broughton, indeed, was made an example of as his dead body reportedly attracted 40,000 visitors on the first day!
Infamous as he became, Broughton remained in the Gibbet for a whopping 36 years. One can only imagine how much decaying flesh ended up slipping through the bars and slopping onto the pavement below. According to J P Bean in ‘Crime in Sheffield’, the Judge, Mr Justice Buller (a nasty fellow), said on passing Spence Broughton’s sentence:
“in order to deter others, his punishment should not cease at the place of execution but his body should be suspended between earth and Heaven, as unworthy of either, to be buffeted by winds and storms.”
The place of gibbeting remains to this day, with a fun little model to demonstrate what occurred in 1792. You can find it hanging outside the The Noose and Gibbet pub on Broughton Lane (yes, our Spence Broughton). The chains and metalwork used to suspend Broughton can be found in the Sheffield Museum!
One can only presume that due to this ghastly spectacle hanging outside of the pub, that maybe some ghouls or ghostly beings parade around the grounds? It has been reported that Spence himself, so tormented by his fate, does haunt the Noose and Gibbet. People reportedly start to feel unwell whilst staying in the Inn of the pub. In the main area of the pub, metal plates and shields that decorate the walls are said to fling right off. Could this be the angry energy of Spence Broughton?
Sources
https://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/south_yorkshire/article_4.shtml
https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/uncategorised/sheffields-urban-legends/
https://ianswalkonthewildside.wordpress.com/2024/04/10/the-story-of-spence-broughton-hanged-in-york-and-gibbeted-in-sheffield-in-1792/
https://proletics.wordpress.com/2016/02/04/the-purging-of-spence-broughton-a-highwayman/
https://sheffieldparanormal.wordpress.com/2011/04/29/ghost-hunt-noose-and-gibbet/
