Gibbet Lane - off the A143 nr West Dereham

[TraceyABennett]

We drove past Gibbet Lane today going down the A143 from Kings Lynn towards Thetford. Being a curious sort I've had a Google but can't find anything about the story of how the gibbet came to be there. I've found it on Faden's 1797 map, it looks like it would have stood on Cavenham common at the junction of the A143 and Gibbet Lane (or whatever it was called at the time)

Can anyone shed any light on whose remains hung there and what crime they'd committed?

[Andrew Barrett]

William Bennington was executed at Thetford on 20/03/1795 and was gibbeted "hung in chains" on 25-03-1795 on this site.

[Andrew Barrett]

Sorry, that should read "William Bennington sentenced on 20/03/1795 and executed on 25-03-1795 at Thetford" he would have been gibbeted either on the same day or a few days later on this site. William Bennington is also listed as Henry. Maybe he was Henry William or William Henry Bennington. His punishment was for murder.... Additional information: the gibbet cost £14, the total cost of his execution was £29, there is no cost mentioned for his irons (the "cage")

Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4372825/table/Tab1/?report=objectonly
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/norfolk.html