Prof. Maggie O’Neill and Dr. Ivan Hill, for ‘Ghosts of the Future’ an Arts Council funded project.

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The crime walk was developed, as part of the Ghosts of the Future project, to identify key spaces and places around Durham associated with the history of crime, punishment and justice through time; especially from medieval times to the current day. The map takes the form of a treasure map and features the River Wear which runs through Durham. The main points of interest on the walk are associated with: the history of crime and punishment; the importance of education and prison education in particular; prison reform; the roles provided by the church, the state and landowners such as Lord Londonderry [whose statue is located in the marketplace] in the history of what is crime and justice in Durham; the relationship between crime and poverty and, of course, some ghoulish and entertaining stories about the places on the walk and the people associated with them. Such as the executioners Calcraft and Marwood who entertained guests in the Dun Cow with stories of famous local criminals like Mary Ann Cotton[1].

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The walk begins at Jimmy Allen’s, formerly the Bridewell or lower house of correction; and winds its way to the market place; the library; the County Gaol; Palace Green; the Courthouse, the Dun Cow public house on Old Elvet; The North East Prison After Care Society (NEPACS) and HMP Durham; finishing at Tithe Barn Museum and Prison Officers Club. Some information associated with various sites is included on the map but more comprehensive details can be found on a forthcoming web-site where the map will be available to download.

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The Crime Walk was developed by Durham University academics Professor Maggie O’Neill and Dr Ivan Hill in consultation with artist and map maker Mark Alder, writer Sheila Mulhern, Jacqueline Woods [ Ghosts of Our Future/Durham County Library], Katherine Shanks [Durham County Library and Durham prison library], Prof. Tim Blackman [Open University], Dr David Sutton [Durham Ghost Walks], Dr Kirsty McCarrison and Dr Sarah Price [Heritage Collections, University Library Palace Green], Durham Museum, and some of the residents of Durham who shared their stories with O’Neill and Hill as they wandered Durham’s streets in search of the histories of crime, justice, punishment and stories of murder, mystery and executions.

The route map of the Crime walk is available to download and the full narrative [available on this web site] tells a more comprehensive story of the places and spaces on the walk and the history of crime, justice and punishment in Durham City. It asks:

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• How do some things get defined as crime and others not?

• How has society sought to reduce crime throughout history?

• What are the causes of crime?

• What is prison for?

• How has prison and punishment changed over time and does prison work?

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[1] Mary Ann, born in Murton, was 40 years of aged when she was executed. A serial killer and thought to have killed twenty one people [husbands/partner and children/step children] with arsenic.