Why did Cardiff need a gallows field? For centuries the death penalty was imposed for all kinds of offences. Rigorous punishment was intended to deter brutal crimes such as murder. Men who committed treason were hanged, drawn and quartered and an equally gruesome punishment awaited women. In 1564 Gwenllian Morgan and Jane Thomas, after being found guilty of murder and treason, were condemned to be burned at the stake.

What made the death sentence particularly harsh was its regular application for offences which would now be considered as petty crime. Capital punishment could be imposed on a felon who stole property worth more than 5 /-. Two Cardiff labourers were hanged in 1596 for stealing five loaves of bread.

Executions either took place in the County Gaol or at Gallows Field, a place of public execution where ordinary people would come to listen to the last words of the condemned men and watch them being killed.

Public hanging in this country ceased in 1868. Capital punishment (the death penalty) is no longer used as a punishment for murder.