WINTER'S GIBBET 1 |
 Just outside the village of Elsdon
is a grizzly reminder of a violent past on the road signed to Cambo. In 1791 the body of William Winter was hung here in chains after he had been found guilty of the murder of Margaret Crozier of Elsdon at this very spot. The present gibbet was erected on the site of the original, and from it hangs a rather bizarre looking model head, which certainly adds a feeling of foreboding to this windswept hill. There is a large block of stone at the foot of the gibbet and this is thought to be the base of a Saxon cross,(Stang Cross) which marked the highest point on the drove road. Along this road the cattle bred in Scotland were driven to the lucrative English markets once peace was the rule rather than the exception. Winter's Gibbet and Stang Cross are maintained by the National Trust. |
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