When the 'Bloody Code' saw sheep theft leading to death in Bodmin

ALL across the land, there are people that will tell you that ‘it’s not like it used to be’.

Never has that phrase been truer than when it comes to the punishments handed out for what we would consider now relatively minor crimes.

At the notorious Bodmin Jail, which was constructed in 1779 and remained operational until its closure in 1927, the sight of a felon’s head parting company with their body was at one point a public spectacle.

Prior to the jail’s establishment, executions were carried out at Bodmin Common, on the outskirts of town. It wasn’t until 1802 that executions began at the jail itself, using drop gallows set up in the field outside the front entrance.

Early executions often resembled torture rather than the swift deaths many associate with capital punishment. Between 1834 and 1856, a method known as the "standard drop" or "short drop" was employed, resulting in a slow and agonizing death by strangulation, as it failed to break the condemned’s neck.

Initially, the drop site was deemed illegal by the Inspector of Prisons because the hangings were not sufficiently public. Since the main gate faced northeast, it was not visible to onlookers. Consequently, the drop was relocated to the South Wall, allowing larger crowds to witness the executions from nearby Asylum Hill.

In 1868, laws changed, mandating that all executions be conducted in private, ending the public spectacle. Later reforms introduced a more humane method, the "long drop," which ensured the prisoner’s neck would break instantly, leading to unconsciousness and death by asphyxiation. This method was pioneered by William Marwood.

New gallows were built in 1897, and an execution pit was created within an execution shed. This pit still exists today and is part of the attraction, having been restored after its discovery during renovation work in 2005.

While we commonly associate the death penalty with being reserved for the most serious, heinous and injurious of crimes, some of the crimes where people were sentenced to death were ones that today would attract a comparatively lighter sentence.

A lot of these executions were during an era called the ‘Bloody Code’ – where the demands of the rich for their protection of property from the common felon saw some brutal punishments for crimes that could be considered relatively trivial.

Such crimes that would cost you your life included highway robbery, wilful arson, poaching, stealing from a rabbit warren, taking a sheep, cattle rustling, forgery and pick pocketing.

The basic rule was any theft or attempts at theft of property exceeding the value of five shillings, or £43.69 in today’s money if converted from 1850 prices, automatically carried the death penalty.

It wasn’t just adults that could face an appointment with the noose, either. The rules around what constituted a theft so heinous that it would lead to a loss of life also applied to children and it wasn’t entirely uncommon for children to also be executed for these crimes.

The list of crimes that could see someone meet their maker didn’t just stop at theft. Other crimes that were potentially punishable by death included writing a threatening letter cutting down trees being in the company of gypsies for a month or more.

While the earliest recorded execution in Bodmin is believed to have been the then-mayor of the town in 1549 during the prayer book rebellions, during the years of Bodmin Jail’s operation it was often people less notable whose names are contained on the list of the dead.

Some of the more high profile criminals, such as Matthew Weeks, who was executed after being found guilty of the murder Charlotte Dymond are the subject of folklore, some were found guilty of more trivial crimes that certainly wouldn’t get the same jail sentence today.

Not all of those who were sentenced to death in Bodmin for crimes during the era of the ‘Bloody Code’ were executed in Bodmin Jail – with some of those sentenced prior to 1802 losing their lives at the then-traditional gallows location at Five Ways. After this date, all executions were held at Bodmin Jail in a location directly outside the drop walls.

Whereas now if you were to steal a sheep, you’d end up with either a delicious dinner, a cross Jeremy Clarkson (some of his Easycare sheep were recently stolen) or a light jail sentence, there was a time where the meeting of light fingers and a lamb would end in an appearance before the Bodmin Jail gallows.

Elizabeth Osborne, feeling scorned and seeking revenge against her former employer, John Lobb, set fire to his corn mow on May 28, 1813, three years after her dismissal. Reports indicate she showed no remorse for her actions, proudly sharing details of her crime with others.

While arson is now seen as a lesser offence, it was considered a capital felony in 1813, as a serious fire could have dire consequences for property owners. On August 16, 1813, Osborne was sentenced to death, a verdict complicated by a halt in US grain imports due to the War of 1812-15. Her execution took place on September 6, 1813, drawing a large crowd of spectators.

Joan Wytte, the Fighting Fairy Woman of Bodmin, wasn’t executed but her story is one of local folklore.

Her jail sentence wasn’t for stealing a sheep, setting fire to corn or breaking into a house, but rather for something else entirely - brawling.

And with this being a story from the history books, there was also a bit of the old curses thrown in there too as she was described as being a ‘witch’.

After her death in 1813 inside the jail from pneumonia, her bones were used in seances during the Victorian era, then displayed in a glass coffin in the Museum of Witchcraft until she was finally laid to rest in Boscastle.