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| Combe Gibbet: The swinging corpses could be seen in three counties |
In the late 1600's a local man, George Broomham,
took himself a mistress, Dorothy Newman. He must have fallen horribly in love because even though his wife and young son disapproved of the mistress (go figure), George would not give her up. Unable to bear being apart, he and Dorothy
plotted to remove those who stood between them.
One winter's day the lovers laid in wait for his family to go walk along a lonely crest in Berkshire Downs. When the mother and son came into view, the lovers sprang up and brutally beat them to death with cudgels. George and Dorothy
were caught and sentenced to be "hanged in chaynes near the place of the
murder."
The gibbet was erected and the two hung. Their bodies could be seen in three surrounding counties, swinging and
spinning in the bitter winter cold.
Our 8.5 mile hike through the Berkshire Downs included a grueling climb to the gibbet and I had to stop several times to catch my breath. The views were worth it though and the three counties (Berkshire, Hampshire and Wiltshire) were in clear view.
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| Heading up to the gibbet at the top of the hill |
A short walk from the gibbet is a D-Day memorial. The plaque reads: "In the fields and woods below this hill in May 1944 the Ninth Battalion Parachute Regiment commanded by T.B.H. Otway DSO rehearsed plans for their successful assault on the German Coastal Artillery Battery at Merville, France before the seaborne troops landed in the invasion of Normandy June 6, 1944." This is where they practiced the invasion just 1 short month before landing.
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| D-Day Memorial. One parachute regiment practiced here prior to their June 6 landing at Normandy. |
From the top of the hill, we hiked down into beechwood groves:
over sheep pastures,
through wheat fields,
along church yards,
and by elegant estates.
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