Blue Boar pub, Castlegate

About Blue Boar pub, Castlegate

Turpin initially worked as a butcher but soon turned to a life of crime, beginning with poaching and stealing cattle before joining a gang of local thieves, engaged in brutal burglaries.

He eventually turned to highway robbery, operating around the London area, resulting in a bounty being placed on his head.

Relentlessly pursued by the authorities, Turpin fled to Yorkshire and settled near Hull, stealing horses to make a living using the name John Palmer.

Arrested for shooting his landlord’s cockerel and making threats, he was sent to York to face trial at the special assizes.

Turpin’s real identity was exposed when he wrote to his brother-in-law from his cell asking for help and his former teacher recognised his handwriting.

Tried and sentenced to hang in 1739, Turpin’s body was laid out in the cellar of the Blue Boar Inn, attracting curious onlookers who paid to view the corpse.

His remains were stolen after his burial by body-snatchers, who attempted to sell it for medical research but was recovered by a mob and reburied more deeply.

Please follow the guided route to St Mary’s Church.