Gibet d'Halifax

Le gibet d'Halifax, ville située dans le Yorkshire de l'Ouest en Angleterre, est un dispositif de décapitation autre que par la hache ou par l'épée, datant probablement du XIIIe siècle. Historiquement intégré au manoir de Wakefield, ce dispositif conférait au seigneur du manoir un pouvoir juridictionnel exceptionnel. La législation coutumière autorisait l'exécution sommaire de tout individu surpris en possession de biens volés dont la valeur excédait treize deniers et demi (l'équivalent approximatif de 10 livres sterling de 2023), ou ayant avoué un vol de valeur équivalente. La particularité du gibet d'Halifax réside dans l'utilisation d'un mécanisme de décapitation (qui a inspiré la guillotine), technologiquement unique à cette époque en Angleterre, et dans la persistance de cette pratique d'exécution pour des délits mineurs jusqu'au milieu du XVIIe siècle, bien après l'évolution des normes judiciaires européennes. Entre 1286 et 1650, environ une centaine de personnes subissent la décapitation à Halifax. En 1650, sur l'intervention d'Oliver Cromwell, lord-protecteur du Commonwealth d'Angleterre, l'utilisation du gibet d'Halifax est interdite et le gibet est démantelé. L'opinion publique estime en effet qu'il ne convient plus de décapiter les auteurs de délits mineurs.

Nearby Places View Menu

Halifax Gibbet

The Halifax Gibbet was an early guillotine used in the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. Estimated to have been installed during the 16th century, it was used as an alternative to beheading by axe or sword. Halifax was once part of the Manor of Wakefield, where ancient custom and law gave the Lord of the Manor the authority to execute summarily by decapitation any thief caught with stolen goods to the value of 131⁄2d or more (equivalent to £10 in 2023), or who confessed to having stolen goods of at least that value. Decapitation was a fairly common method of execution in England, but Halifax was unusual in two respects: it employed a guillotine-like machine that appears to have been unique in the country, and it continued to decapitate petty criminals until the mid-17th century. The device consisted of an axe head fitted to the base of a heavy wooden block that ran in grooves between two 15-foot-tall (4.6 m) uprights, mounted on a stone base about 4 feet (1.2 m) high. A rope attached to the block ran over a pulley, allowing it to be raised, after which the rope was secured by attaching it to a pin in the base. The block carrying the axe was then released either by withdrawing the pin or by cutting the rope once the prisoner was in place. Almost 100 people were beheaded in Halifax between the first recorded execution in 1286 and the last in 1650, but as the date of the gibbet's installation is uncertain, it cannot be determined with any accuracy how many individuals died via the Halifax Gibbet. By 1650, public opinion considered beheading to be an excessively severe punishment for petty theft; use of the gibbet was forbidden by Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, and the structure was dismantled. The stone base was rediscovered and preserved in about 1840, and a non-working replica was erected on the site in 1974. The names of 52 people known to have been beheaded by the device are listed on a nearby plaque.

St Mary's Church, Halifax

St Mary's Church or St Marie's Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Halifax, West Yorkshire. It was built from 1836 to 1839. It is situated on the corner of Gibbet Street and Clarence Street, next to Burdock Way. It is the first Post-Reformation Roman Catholic church built in Halifax.

Halifax, West Yorkshire

Halifax is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale, in West Yorkshire, England. It is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. In the 15th century, the town became an economic hub of the old West Riding of Yorkshire, primarily in woollen manufacture with the large Piece Hall square later built for trading wool in the town centre. The town was a thriving mill town during the Industrial Revolution with the Dean Clough Mill buildings a surviving landmark. In the 2021 census, the town was recorded as having a population of 88,134. It is also the administrative centre of the Calderdale Metropolitan Borough.

415 m

Acapulco (nightclub)

The Acapulco, also known as the Acca is a nightclub in Halifax, Yorkshire, England that opened in 1961, and claims to be the UK's oldest. In March 2022, it attracted media attention for selling its 20-year-old swirly pattern carpet for £5 per A4-size piece.

Halifax Town Hall

Halifax Town Hall is a 19th century town hall in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. It is a grade II* listed building. It is notable for its design and interiors by Charles Barry and his son, Edward Middleton Barry, and for its sculptures by John Thomas. The town hall is the headquarters of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council.