Calcraft and his predecessors used a simple halter style noose, consisting of a loop worked into one end of a piece of hemp rope, with the other end passed through it.
Calcraft
This was improved on in the 1890's by passing the free end of the rope through a brass eyelet instead ofjust a loop of rope, which made it more free running. Following the report of the Aberdare Committee in 1888, it was decided that execution ropes would be supplied by the Prison Commission of the Home Office and not by the hangman himself. A contract was duly entered into with John Edgington & Co of the Old Kent Road in London to manufacture and supply the ropes. The execution rope was formed from a 13 foot length of 3/4" diameter Italian hemp. Early versions had no covering and a simple leather washer to hold the noose in place. From the 1920’s, the noose itself had a Chamois leather covering sewn over the rope which was intended to reduce the marking of the skin and a plain rubber washer to hold it in place. The ends of the rope, where they were spliced together, had Gutta Percha coverings (Gutta Percha is a natural waxy resin and was used as the filling for golf balls). The Gutta Percha tended to splinter when cold and had to be heated with a candle to soften it and avoid cuts to the prisoner’s neck. In 1942, the plain rubber washer was replaced with an internally star shaped one which gripped the rope better. The Gutta Percha covering the rope over the attachment eye to the chain was omitted in 1952. In 1955 it was omitted from the noose end and replaced with vulcanised rubber. The rope was stretched before use, by dropping a sandbag of approximately the same weight as the prisoner through the trap and leaving it suspended overnight. This reduced its diameter to about 5/8 inch. The purpose of this was to remove any tendency of the rope to stretch during the actual hanging which would reduce the force applied to the prisoner's neck. Hemp has always been the preferred material as it is both soft and strong with a smooth surface. Marwood and Berry, having positioned the noose, allowed the free rope to loop down behind the prisoner's back. Marwood had an unfortunate incident through this practice, at the hanging of James Burton at Durham in 1883. As Burton fell through the trap, the rope became entangled in his arm thus shortening the intended drop. Marwood had to haul the unfortunate man back onto the platform to free the entanglement and then pushed Burton back down into the pit where he died by strangulation. James Billington used a similar rope to Berry but coiled it up and tied it with a piece of pack thread to leave the noose at chest level to avoid the prisoner being caught up in it or himself tripping over it as at it lay on the trapdoors. This idea was also found to speed up the process and remained in use to the end.
The positioning of the eyelet of the noose under the angle of the jaw is very important as it is vital that the head is thrown backwards by the rope so that the force is transmitted into the neck vertebrae rather than being thrown forward and the force taken on the throat which tends to cause strangulation. It is also crucial that the noose is put on the right way round so that it rotates in the correct direction with the eyelet ending up under the jaw.
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