Combe Gibbet is a double gibbet on the summit of Inkpen Beacon, which offers fine views north across Berkshire. On a clear day you can even pick out White Horse Hill on The Ridgeway, 16 miles away. The 25 foot high gibbet stands in the middle of one of only three Berkshire neolithic long-barrows (3400-2400 BC).
Combe Gibbet was erected in 1676 to hang the bodies of George Bromham, a married farm labourer from Combe, and Dorothy Newman, a widow from Inkpen. They were both found guilty of the murder of George Bromham's wife Martha Bromham, and son Robert Bromham. George and Dorothy were in an illicit relationship and in order to continue this liaison they beat Martha and Robert to death with a staff close to where the gibbet now stands.
The trial took place at Winchester Assizes, and began on 23rd February 1676 . The pair were found guilty and were sentenced to death by hanging. Their bodies were then to be hung in chains near to the place of the murders.
The public hanging duly took place in Winchester on 3rd March 1676, and the record of the trial is to be found in the Western Circuit Gaol Book in Winchester Library.
The cost of the hanging in chains, which involved the building and erection of a considerable double gibbet, together with two sets of iron chains was split equally between the parishes of Combe and Inkpen. This was because the crime was committed on the border of the two parishes. The gibbet was erected in the middle of the Long Barrow - a place that neither parish had claim to as the boundaries stopped at the side ditches.
The two bodies were then brought back to Inkpen and laid out in a barn at the back of the Crown and Garter Inn, where they were measured up by the local blacksmith and fitted in their chains. The final hanging of the bodies of George and Dorothy took place each side of their double gibbet on 6th March 1676.
The current gibbet is the seventh and was erected in 1992 after the previous gibbet was burnt down by vandals.
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In order to log your find you must take a photo of you or your GPS or both with the Gibbet and post it with your log.
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Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.