According to Coxe, three horse skulls were uncovered here, which could be an indication of sacrifice or as a protection against lightning.

 

The present gibbet at Elsdon stands on the site of one from which the body of William Winter was suspended in chains after he had been hanged at The Westgate in Newcastle. Winter was executed for the murder of Margaret Crozier in 1791. Today this grisly relic is called Winter's Gibbet.

 

The area around this grim reminder is reputedly haunted by the "Brown Man of the Moor", who is described as a dwarf with red hair and glowing eyes. He protects the creatures that live on the countryside and punishes those that casue them harm.

 

Pictured left is a wooden head on Winter's Gibbet courtesy of Phil Thirkell.