The Hauntingly Excellent Range
Thomas Hopkinson
In 1817, Thomas Hopkinson was involved in an arson attack at South Wingfield, where hay and corn stacks were set ablaze. Arrested with four others, he escaped execution by turning King’s evidence and testifying against his accomplices who were all hanged.
Two years later, in 1819, Hopkinson showed that he hadn’t learned the error of his ways - this time committing highway robbery near Dronfield, assaulting and robbing traveller William Bucknall.
Caught and tried at the Derby Assizes, he was found guilty and sentenced to death.
On 2 April 1819, Hopkinson was publicly hanged outside Derby Gaol, his earlier reprieve proving short-lived.
Hopkinson’s ghost is said to haunt Friar Gate - specifically where he was executed there.
Related places to visit in Derby
LOCATION: The Old Bell Hotel, 51 Sadler Gate, Derby DE1 3NQ
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CONNECTION: Dating back to 1650, the Old Bell Hotel was one of the most prestigious coaching inns in the country in its prime, and in the 17th and 18th centuries it acted as a hub for travel, food, hospitality and leisure. It was also a known hang-out for highwaymen who would visit and drink there in the hope of finding out information about valuable passengers or cargo that was due to be travelling by stagecoach.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
LOCATION: Jorrocks, 41 Iron Gate, Derby DE1 3GA
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CONNECTION: Another coaching inn in Derby that dates back to the 1600s, Jorrocks - formerly known as The George Inn - was also the location in 1745 where Bonnie Prince Charlie demanded billets for his invading soldiers when he arrived in Derby on December 4th, 1745. The Bonnie Prince and his men would stay in Derby until December 6th, 1745 when, after a meeting at Exeter House in Derby, they made the decision to retreat.
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DIRECTIONS: Click Here.
Derby History Walks
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Come and join us for a 90-minute walk full of revelations, curses, deaths, superstitions, evil doers and much more!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
Learn all about Derby's most notorious murders and murderers on Derby's murder walk - not for the faint-hearted!!
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
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True, but weird, Derby history including frogs falling from the skies, ghouls roaming the town, historic hot dogs, mummified cats & more.
VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
A walk full of tortured spirits who met a grisly end including both the murderers and their victims
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VARIOUS DATES
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5.30pm to 7.00pm - walk commences from the Derby Uncovered Heritage Centre at 11 Sadler Gate, Derby.
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Tickets are £10 per person.
