Lewes Prison

The current prison at Lewes in East Sussex was built between 1850 and 1853 on Brighton Road (A277) in Lewes, at a cost of £56,000. It is of somewhat unusual appearance, in that the outer wall facings are of flint.

It was designed by architect, Daniel Rowlinson Hill and as built had four wings, one each for males, females, juveniles and debtors, in a cruciform pattern radiating from a central hall. In 1868 to 1870 an additional 120 cells were added by lengthening the wings. The female only F Wing closed during World War I and its inmates transferred to Holloway. As HMP Lewes, the prison is still functioning in 2023 as a local category B prison.

Here are two photos of the main gate in 1853 and now.

A total of 10 executions were carried out at the new prison at Lewes, before Sussex executions were moved to Wandsworth.

Three public hangings were carried out at the Sussex County Gaol. The old prison which had opened in 1791 and was acquired for £3,000 by the Royal Navy in 1854 to house naval prisoners. They were:

16/12/1831 John Holloway for the murder of his wife.

21/08/1848 Mary Ann Geering for the murder of her husband and two adult sons.

10/04/1852 Sarah French for the murder by poisoning of her husband, William at Chiddingly in Sussex.

Prior to 1831 Sussex executions were carried out at Horsham.

There were two public hangings at the new prison:

At noon on the 5th of August 1856, 18 year old John Murdoch (or Murdock) was hanged by William Calcraft for the murder by strangling of James Wellerd, the Hastings gaoler, while trying to escape. He died without a struggle and the crowd was estimated at 1,500 – 2,000. There had been a very active campaign to obtain a reprieve, presumably on account of Murdoch’s age.

John William Leigh was hanged at noon on Tuesday the 10th of April 1866 for the murder, by shooting of his siter in law Harriet Haston (also given as Horton and Harton) who was the landlady of the Jolly Fisherman public house in Market Street, Brighton, where the murder took place. He also attempted to murder Superintendent Barndon of Brighton police who was trying to arrest him but fortunately the bullet only passed through his clothing. Calcraft was again the hangman and Leigh died with barely a struggle.

A total of eight hangings were carried out within the walls of the prison:

Martin Henry Brown aka Martin Vinall - and a case of mistaken identity.

22 year old Brown had been convicted of the murder of a 62 year old farm labourer called David Baldry (also given as Baldrey). Both men worked for a Mr. Hodson who ran a large farm at Kingston between Brighton and Lewis. David Baldry was walking home to his cottage near Lewis when he was murdered. It was reported in the press that Brown had lodged with David Baldry for a time.

Brown had shot Baldry on the 9th of October 1868 and robbed him of his and his two son’s wages, amounting to some £3 or £4 in total.

He made a confession in the condemned cell of Lewes Gaol. In this he stated that he did not intend to kill David Baldry, but rather a shepherd named Tuppin. He had laid in wait for Tuppin on Newmarket Hill. He saw a man approaching, hailed him and as he turned round shot him three times. He finished the man off with the butt of his rifle, before taking his watch and money. He realised at this point who it was that he had killed and made his escape. Baldry’s body was discovered the following morning some 450 yards from his cottage, by his two sons as they went to work. The broken gun stock was found nearby and could be shown to match the prisoner’s gun which had been found by the police hidden in some long grass, close to the scene of the murder.

Brown then attempted to enlist in the Royal Artillery at Maidstone and was arrested.

He came to trial before Baron Channell at the Sussex Assizes at Lewis on the 29th and 30th of December 1868.

He was hanged at 8.00 a.m. on Monday the 18th of January 1869 by William Calcraft. He reportedly walked with a firm step the 100 yards or so to the gallows, erected in a small airing yard on the eastern side of the prison. The gallows was described as being about 15 feet tall in total with a flight of steps leading up to the platform and the area below the platform draped in black cloth.

Brown apparently died without a struggle. He had told the chaplain, the Rev. Mr. Duke, that he hoped to meet “poor old Baldry” in Heaven. The black flag was hoisted to show that the execution had been carried out.

Later in the morning the formal inquest was held before the coroner, Mr. Fullagar.

Brown had a number of previous convictions for theft for which he had served prison terms, dating back to 1863. His case received considerable publicity in the newspapers with many publishing his confession in full.

Percy Mapleton - The Preston Park railway murder.

At 9.00 a.m. on the 29th of November 1881, 22 year old Percy Lefroy whose real surname was Mapleton was hanged here. His case received a great deal of press coverage as he was another railway murderer and the crime was considered to be particularly shocking at the time. Here is a drawing of him in court.

Mapleton was convicted of the murder of Isaac Gold on a London, Brighton and South Coast Railway train at Preston Park on the outskirts of Brighton on Monday the 27th of June, 1881. At first, Mapleton claimed to have been the victim of an attack to the station staff who took him to the police station to make a statement. An examination of the carriage that he had emerged from revealed bullet holes and a great deal of blood everywhere in the compartment. Although the police were suspicious of him there was no evidence at the time to hold him so after giving his statement and receiving some medical attention Mapleton was allowed to return to London in the company of a policeman. In the meantime staff searched the track in the Brighton area and came across the body of a man in Balcome Tunnel who was later identified as Mr. Isaac Gold. He had been shot and robbed of his gold watch and chain and his money. Mapleton managed to give his police escort the slip, despite Detective Sergeant Holmes having been informed that Mr. Gold’s body had been found. For the first time a newspaper (The Daily Telegraph) was able to print a picture of Mapleton which led to innumerable sightings of similar looking men all over England. The real Mapleton was arrested on the 8th July living under an assumed name at a house in Stepney in London. His trial opened at Maidstone Assizes before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Coleridge on the 4th of November 1881. Mapleton pleaded not guilty. It took the jury just 10 minutes to reach their verdict.

Mapleton made a full confession in the condemned cell, to the prison chaplain, the Rev. Cole.

The gallows at Lewes, which was probably the same one that had been used for public hangings was erected in one of the yards over a newly constructed 15 foot deep brick lined pit. It consisted of two stout uprights and a cross beam set over a double door trap and all painted black. An iron bracket with a ring was attached at the centre of the beam and the rope attached to the ring by an iron hook. Mapleton’s newly dug grave was visible nearby and would have been seen by him as walked to his doom. Six newspaper reporters were permitted to witness the hanging and William Marwood chatted to them in the yard prior to the execution. He told them that the rope he was going to use that morning had hanged nine people and had been used the previous day at Manchester’s Strangeways prison for the hanging of 21 year old John Simpson who had murdered his girlfriend, Ann Ratcliffe.

A little before 9 o’clock Marwood was interrupted in his conversation with the journalists by a warder telling him that he was required to pinion Mapleton. He used a heavy leather body belt round the young man’s waist which had straps at the side for his wrists. The procession to the gallows formed up, led by the chaplain, Mapleton followed, supported by a warder on either side and with Marwood holding the body belt from behind for the 50-60 yard walk to the gallows. The under sheriff, the prison surgeon and the visiting magistrate came next. Once on the trap Marwood strapped Mapleton’s legs and put the white hood over his head followed by the noose. A drop of nine feet was given causing fracture/dislocation of Mapleton’s neck. There were no movements observed and he died without any sign of struggle. Around a hundred people were outside the prison to see the black flag flown. Mapleton was left on the rope for the normal hour before being taken down for the formal inquest at 10.15 a.m. before coroner Mr. W. E. Baxter. The body was then buried within the precincts of the prison. This execution took some 3-4 minutes to carry out.

William Wilton for wife murder.

At 9.00 a.m. on the 29th of August 1887 40 year old William Wilton was hanged for the murder of his wife, 35 year old Sarah, at their home at 10 Cavendish Street in Brighton on the 9th of July 1887. Wilton was tried and convicted before Mr. Justice Hawkins on the 10th of August 1887. He weighed 130 lbs and was given a drop of 5’ 6” by James Berry. Some 50 people waited outside the prison to see the black flag unfurled.

George Henry Wood for the rape/murder of a five year old girl.

On the 26th of April 1892 George Henry Wood was executed for the rape and murder by strangulation of Edith Jeal, aged 5, at Brighton on Thursday the 10th of December 1891.

Edith and her brother ran a shopping errand for their parents on this Thursday evening. They had bought some chestnuts and a bundle of firewood. The boy then went into a shop on Manchester Row, leaving Edith outside. When he exited the shop, she was missing. Wood who worked in the goods yard of the Brighton railway was seen in the area of Manchester Row as he made his way home to Rock Street. He was seen to accost a small group of young girls, before spotting Edith and persuading her to accompany him. He was subsequently seen carrying her near the Sussex County Hospital and the crime took place in a neighbouring field. Edith’s body was discovered the following morning. She had been raped and strangled. Wood was arrested and his clothes found to be blood stained. He appeared at a committal hearing before magistrates on the 12th of December and was remanded to stand trial at the next assizes.

Wood was convicted at the Sussex Lent Assizes before Mr. Justice Mathew on the 7th of April 1892.

At 6 minutes to nine on the morning of execution James Billington went to the condemned cell where he pinioned Wood’s arms and wrists and bared his neck.

The procession to the gallows now formed up, led by the Rev. B. Wilkinson, followed by the prisoner escorted by two turnkeys with the governor, under-sheriff, prison surgeon and Billington following.

On the gallows, Wood’s last words were “Lord Jesus receive my spirit”. Billington released the trap and Wood dropped seven feet. His neck was dislocated and death was instantaneous.

The black flag was hoisted to advise the crowd of around 200, that the execution had been carried out.

The inquest was held in the boardroom at 10.30 a.m. before Mr. G. E. Hillman, the Coroner for East Sussex.

It is strange how some prisons that had few hangings in total have them close together. In the period 1900 - 1914, Lewes prison saw just four executions, two in 1913 and two in 1914. Albert Rumens was hanged there on the 7th of January 1913, followed by George Mackay on the 29th of January that year. Herbert Brooker was hanged on the 28th of July 1914 and finally Percy Clifford, a few days later, on the 11th of August.

Albert Rumens - child murder.

In the late afternoon of Friday the 6th of September 1912, 10 year old Mabel Ann Maryan was murdered in Buckland Hill Wood near Wadhurst in Sussex, by 44 year old farm labourer, Albert Rumens.

Mabel had gone to pick blackberries and she had been talking to 10 year old William Chapman when Rumens approached them and began speaking to Mabel. They then went off into the woods together. Around 6.30 p.m. local gamekeeper, Edward Gifford, heard a scream and found Rumens with what he initially thought was a woman lying in the grass. Rumens got up and spoke to him, the “woman” did not move. Gifford went to speak to her and Rumens made his escape. It immediately became clear that the woman was a 10 year old girl and that she was dead.

Mabel had been suffocated but had not been raped. She lived next door but one to Rumens so presumably trusted him.

Edward Gifford sent a man to fetch the police and when they arrived was able to give a good description of Rumens. Police arrested him in a local pub around 8.30 p.m. that evening.

Rumens was tried at Lewes on the 16th of December 1912 before Mr. Justice Channell.

In the condemned cell he was examined by three doctors to assess his sanity. He continued to maintain his innocence.

He was hanged at 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday the 7th of January 1914, by John Ellis and Thomas Pierrepoint. The prison bell began to toll, and the procession started on its way from the building to the gallows, which was erected in a yard in the south-east corner of the prison yard. Rumens walked unaided to it and displayed “great fortitude” according to press reports. He made no confession and continued to maintain that he had no recollection of the crime.
The formal inquest was held by Mr. G. Vere Benson, the East Sussex Coroner, at noon. It noted that death had been “instantaneous” and that the whole execution had taken just one minute and twenty seconds, which was fast for the time. Rumens had been given a drop of 6’ 6”.

George Mackay - alias John Williams.

George Mackay - alias John Williams, had been born in Edinburgh on the 23rd of February 1883. He was a career burglar, starting from the age of nine. Several further convictions followed, the last being on the 8th of November 1910 when he was given a twelve month sentence for housebreaking.

Countess Sztaray lived at No.6 South Cliff Avenue, Eastbourne and on the evening of Wednesday the 9th of October 1912 had ordered a cab. This arrived and as they started out the cabbie, David Potter, asked the countess who the man on her balcony was. David Potter was her regular driver and presumably knew she lived alone. She realised that the man was an intruder and they went immediately to the police.

Inspector Arthur Walls was quickly on the scene and spotting the man told him to come down. Two shots were fired from a revolver at Walls who died at the scene. The town went into lockdown and police were watching the station. Mackay, who had been on holiday with his girlfriend, Florence Seymour, had sent his brother a telegram reading “If you would save my life come here at once to 4 Tideswell Road. Ask for Seymour. Bring some cash with you. Very Urgent”. His brother did as requested and came down from London with his best friend Edgar Power.

The police were tipped off by Edgar Power that the man they were looking for was John Williams. Power had asked Mackay if he had committed the murder but he denied it. Florence told him that she had been present when the gun was buried on the beach.

Power and Florence were observed searching on the beach for the gun, but the following day the police recovered it. In the meantime “John Williams” had been arrested in London and taken back to Eastbourne.

Mackay's trial took place at the Sussex Assizes at Lewes on the 12th to the 14th of December 1912 before Mr. Justice Channell. Ballistics expert Robert Churchill was able to demonstrate that the exhibited gun was the murder weapon. Mackay admitted to “casing” South Cliff Avenue but denied the killing. The jury, however did not believe him and he was found guilty and sentenced to death. His appeal before the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with Justices Phillimore and Ridley, was dismissed on the 13th of January 1913.

Mackay was hanged at 8.00 a.m. on Wednesday the 29th of January 1913 by John Ellis and William Willis. He walked without assistance to the gallows. He weighed 148 lbs, and was given a drop of 7’ 7”. Dr. Dow, the prison surgeon certified that death was instantaneous. The execution took one minute and eight seconds to carry out from the time Ellis entered the condemned cell to the moment of the drop.

The formal inquest was held at noon. The Governor, Major Marriott, told the coroner’s jury that Mackay made no final statement. He further testified that the prison authorities had only found out Mackay’s real name from letters he wrote in the condemned cell to his parents. This is why contemporary newspaper reports all give his name as John Williams.

Herbert Brooker - a railway murder.

On Saturday the 25th of April 1914, 32 year old Herbert Brooker who worked as a lock keeper at the Royal Albert Docks in Woolwich and his girlfriend, 29 year old Ada Stone, had gone up to London to watch the FA Cup final at Crystal Palace. They were both Liverpool supporters but were in low spirits on the homeward journey as Liverpool had been defeated 1 nil by Burnley. Early newspaper picture of Brooker.

The couple had been drinking prior to boarding the 7.25 p.m. London Bridge to Brighton train at Horley. They got into an argument which turned violent soon after the train left the station. Another passenger, Donald Palmer, heard the fight from the next compartment and seeing a man wielding a knife, standing over a woman on the floor, pulled the communication cord. The train was approaching Three Bridges station, near Crawley in Sussex and the driver decided to stop there. The man tried to escape but was subdued on the station platform by station staff and passengers.

The police found Ada’s body on the train, her throat had been cut and were able to identify her assailant as Brooker. He was arrested at the scene.

At the subsequent interview, it emerged that Ada was already married, but wanted to marry Brooker. He was not willing to enter into a bigamous marriage and wanted to place adverts for her first husband so that she could get a divorce. He claimed that this caused friction between them as she wanted to be with him, irrespective.

He admitted to carrying a large knife which he concealed down one sock and could hardly deny killing Ada. He apparently carried the knife due to having been attacked by a group of men as he was going to work.

Brooker was tried at Lewes on the 7th of July 1914 before Mr. Justice Darling. The defence counsel, Mr. Harrington Ward, attempted to get the verdict reduced to manslaughter as he contended that Brooker was too drunk to form the intention to kill. Brooker testified that he had no recollection of the crime and only remembered six men sitting on him of the platform at Three Bridges.

There could only be one verdict, but the jury made a recommendation to mercy, as Brooker had been of previous good character and had served as a gunner during his fourteen years in the navy. The judge did not concur with this.

There was no appeal and Brooker accepted his sentence, writing to friends “For after committing so awful a crime as I have done I think that I am not fit to look at decent and respectable people, for Ada was a good girl.” He warned them to stay away from drink that had been his downfall.

He was hanged here at 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday the 28th of July 1914, by John Ellis, assisted by Thomas Pierrepoint. His drop was reportedly set at 7’ 0” and he walked without assistance to the gallows.

The press were excluded from the execution but were permitted to attend the Coroner’s inquest, where the prison doctor testified that death was instantaneous.

Percy Clifford - the last hanging at Lewes prison.

32 year old Percy Evelyn Clifford was executed for shooting his wife 24 year old Maud at 57 North Road in Brighton on Tuesday the 7th of April 1914.

They had married in 1911, but Maud had to take to prostitution to support them as Clifford would not work. In October 1913 she left Clifford and moved back to London. He persuaded her to meet up with him in Brighton which she did on Saturday the 4th of April 1914. He had rented a room from Mary Upton at 57 North Road where they both stayed. Mary took tea up to their room on the morning of Tuesday the 7th of April and Maud called out thank you to her. The shooting occurred around noon with Mary hearing two loud bangs, but not realising what they were. By mid afternoon Mary was concerned that she couldn’t hear her lodgers and went to check on them. She was greeted by an horrific scene. Maud lay dead on the bed having been shot through the head at close range. Clifford lay beside her, having shot himself in the head. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital where he slowly recovered, with the bullet still lodged in his brain.

Clifford was tried at Lewes before Mr. Justice Darling on the 8th of July 1914. The defense tried to show the crime was manslaughter, but the prosecution found a witness to testify that Clifford had threatened to shoot both Maud and himself, so there was evidence of premeditation. The jury needed just 25 minutes to reach a guilty verdict.

Clifford’s appeal on the basis of temporary insanity, was heard and was dismissed on the 27th of July, before the Lord Chief Justice, sitting with Justices Avory and Coleridge.

John Ellis, assisted by Thomas Pierrepoint carried out the hanging. It is reported that Clifford ate a very good breakfast of bacon and eggs beforehand and then enjoyed a pint of beer, prior to dropping 6’ 6” to his death.

It is unclear whether there was ever an execution shed at Lewes. Press reports indicate that the gallows was typically set up in an exercise yard.

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