Cornmarket
- St Peter's Street
(Written
by Wayne Anthony & Richard Felix)
Many of Derby's current
residents are unaware that as they cross the junction of St. Peter's Street
and the Cornmarket, they are in fact walking over the site of Derby's
first County Gaol. This prison was first used in the 16th century and
was to operate until 1756.
It was in 1610 that a tragic event took place.
The gaol had been built alongside the Markeaton Brook and after a period
of steady rain the water level began to rise.
Soon the brook had burst its banks and began to flood the gaol. In the
case of the 3 prisoners who were in a cell below the water line it was
to be a fatal occurrence. With nowhere for the water to escape they suffered
the awful death of being slowly drowned in their cell.
Over the years many people have spoken of the ghostly sounds of three
men crying vainly for help. A lady who worked at the Mark's & Spencer's
store on St. Peter's Street told how she was leaving work late one night
when she heard what she believed to be someone injured lying nearby.
Wandering to where the gaol had once stood she realised that the noises
were coming from beneath the road which now runs along the course of the
Markeaton Brook.
"A ghostly wail", was how she described the noise. "That
night I couldn't sleep" she remarked.
"Every time I closed my eyes I could hear the voices of these men
pleading for help".
It was a help that had never arrived for them in their lifetime and it
seems that something remains in that area - maybe waiting in eternity
for help to finally arrive.
Cornmarket & St
Peters Street junction
Cornmarket - looking
towards
St. Peters Street
