The Robbers' Stone

COORDINATES CORRECTED (submission, Sep 2026): this entry previously gave coordinates for the wrong one of the two linked monuments. The coordinates now shown are for the roadside stone at Gore Cross, on the verge of the A360 south of West Lavington, where the robbery itself took place - this is Historic England list entry 1284108 (Grade II, listed 25 March 1988), NGR SU 00868 51264. THE SECOND STONE IS ON MOD LAND - PERMISSION REQUIRED: the other monument, marking where Benjamin Colclough collapsed and died during the chase, stands at Chapperton Down, just inside the Chitterne parish boundary, at approximately 51.2274, -1.9944 (Historic England list entry 1036436, Grade II, NGR ST 99662 45131). Historic England's own listing text states plainly: 'This stone is within the army ranges on Salisbury Plain.' Local historian Sue Robinson (Chitterne Now and Then) confirms it lies inside the Ministry of Defence's Imber Range Danger Area, where live firing takes place during military exercises, and that public access is generally prohibited - she recounts a photographer who was disappointed to learn this after enquiring. DO NOT attempt to visit the second stone without first checking Salisbury Plain Training Area's public range access arrangements and confirming it is safe and permitted to do so; the coordinates given here for it are for identification only, not a visiting recommendation. Matthew Dean, a farmer from the now-deserted village of Imber, was riding home from Devizes market on 21 October 1839 when four highwaymen (Benjamin Colclough, Thomas Saunders, George Waters and Richard Harris) dragged him off his horse near Gore Cross Farm and robbed him of three GBP20 North Wilts Bank notes, gold and silver coin, and his hat. Dean gave chase on foot and was joined by farmers James Morgan, John Baish and James Kite, then by William Hooper (who brought a gun), then further reinforcements over a pursuit lasting more than three hours and covering several miles of the downs - the robbers at one point tried to shout down Hooper's cries of 'Robbers!' with mock hunting cries of 'Tally Ho'. Colclough, exhausted, fell and was left behind by his companions and was found dead the next day; his death certificate recorded 'rupture of a vessel on his brain, produced by over exertion in running away to escape justice', and the inquest returned a verdict of felo-de-se. The other three were captured, convicted at the Devizes Quarter Sessions, and transported for fifteen years, sailing on the convict ship Lord Lyndoch to Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in September 1840. NOT A MURDER STONE - DIFFERENT CATEGORY: this remains a robbery, not a killing of an unwilling victim - the only death was a robber's, apparently from exhaustion rather than violence.