In the heart of Halifax, West Yorkshire, lies an imposing and chilling piece of history – the Halifax Gibbet. This much-feared device of justice and the precursor to the notorious French guillotine, stood tall in the town as a stark reminder of the swift and brutal law enforcement of the Middle Ages. Legends and tales surround this grim contraption, a prime ingredient for local folklore. The Halifax Gibbet was first erected during the 13th century as a tool to enforce the ‘Gibbet Law.’ Under this law, any individual accused of stealing goods over a certain value would be fast-tracked through the justice system in a strikingly brutal fashion: they were summarily beheaded by the Halifax Gibbet. It’s said that over 100 people met their grisly end at the Gibbet during its two centuries of operation. However, its story does not end there. Local legend has it that after John Lacy, the last man to be executed by the Gibbet in 1650, the infamous machine was taken down and hidden away to prevent any further use. But the ghost of the Halifax Gibbet was not laid to rest; true to its terrifying image engraved in the common psyche, its presence continued to loom large in local lore. It was reconstructed and erected again in 1974 as a reminder of the town’s unique, if somewhat gruesome, contribution to criminal justice history. The folklore surrounding the Halifax Gibbet tells a tale of an era when justice was delivered swiftly and brutally, a tangible manifestation of the uncompromising rule of law that deterred potential criminals and terrified the ill-fated condemned.