From murderers to cider fascinating stories behind
They were executed in front of crowds of up to 10,000 people. Ian Lewis tells some harrowing tales from the hanging grounds of Wales’ oldest town...
TODAY there are busy routes in and out of the town, some residential and others lined with businesses – one is even the home of the county council – but they were once the hanging grounds of Carmarthen.
History is littered with tales of criminals being taken to the gallows pole to meet their fate and Carmarthen is no stranger to those often gruesome tales.
A leafy corner of Johnstown once known as Royal Oak Common, Babell Hill in Pensarn, with its views across the River Towy and the county gaol – where Carmarthenshire council now has its county hall – were all hanging haunts for the town.
Those taken from the gaol to Pensarn faced a walk of more than a mile to the spot on the hill, often with the route chaotically jammed with onlookers jeering and shouting at the damned souls.
The last man to suffer the death walk from Carmarthen Jail to Pensarn was Rees Thomas Rees in 1817.
A better, safer spot had to be found, and so a new public gallows was built inside the front wall of the county jail facing Spillman Street.
From murderers to those unfortunate enough to be caught just stealing cider, they were all hanged for their crimes.
In between 1752 and 1836 the death sentence was carried out on the second day following sentencing unless it was a Sunday, in which case the sentence took place on Monday.
Such was the draw of a public hanging, with justice being seen to be done, the last public execution saw a staggering 10,000 people pack along Spilman Street to witness the spectacle. This took place on a raised platform above the county jail.
However, the first attempt to hang the prisoner failed when the trapdoor didn’t open. In vain, the prisoner pleaded for his life on the grounds that he could not be punished twice for the same offence; the second time the trapdoor opened.
Those with the financial means could also pay for a premium spot within the then Mount building next to the jail for the best vantage points from the windows facing the jail.
The popularity of attending a hanging can be found in William Spurrell’s book printed in 1860 entitled Carmarthen and its Neighbourhood, in which an extract from a letter written in 1752 from Grifeith Philips, of Cwmgwili, to his son in London reads: “There are this day to be hang’d at Carmarthen two men for house breaking, which I suppose will draw al ye country peoples together, it being a very uncommon thing here to get em hang’d in pairs’.”
Draw “ye country people together” did hangings yes, but there would be no further hangings for murder in Carmarthen after 1862 until 1888, by which time it was no longer a public spectacle. On that day, March 13, 1888 it was David Rees that was hanged – but history tells us that there may have been an accomplice he was shielding.
At around 10.30am on November 12 the previous year, Thomas Davies, a messenger at the Dafen Tinworks in Llanelli, was found dying in a field after having been horribly battered about the head on Bryngwyn Hill.
Nearby, covered in blood, police discovered a hanger, a tool used in the tinworks. Thomas Davies had been carrying a bag containing the tinworks wages, £590 in gold and silver, of which £300 was missing.
Later in the evening the police went to question David Rees at his home, and as a result he was arrested on suspicion of having committed the murder. Having heard all the evidence the jury retired and returned after 32 minutes with the verdict – guilty. Rees made no reply when asked if he had anything to say before being sentenced. With great solemnity the judge placed the black