Image: Peter's Stone, Cressbrook Dale - geograph.org.uk - 1564301

Description: Peter's Stone, Cressbrook Dale A limestone dome which is known as Peter's Stone, due to its shape resembling the basilica of St Peter's in Rome. Its other name is Gibbet Rock. It is the site of Derbyshire's last gibbeting in 1815; there were two forms of this practice; the first was to put a condemned person alive into a cage, hoist it in the air and leave them to die; alternatively the condemned would be executed , and the body left as a reminder of what happened to criminals. This final gibbeting involved a convicted murderer, called Anthony Lingard, and a very popular event it was too; booths and stalls were put up for all the sightseers; the local minister, alarmed at his falling congregation (they were all down in the dale gawping ), held his sermons here. After a decent interval, the iron frame of the gibbet was dismantled, and, it is said, an enterprising chap made toasting forks from pieces of the cage. The offending skull was exhibited in Belle Vue Museum, Manchester. (Thanks to Mark Darlington for his article in Reflections magazine)
Title: Peter's Stone, Cressbrook Dale - geograph.org.uk - 1564301
Credit: From geograph.org.uk
Author: Peter Barr
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0
License: CC BY-SA 2.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Attribution Required?: Yes