I do not usually write about murders as I find the subject distasteful, although I do appreciate that people like reading about these hideous crimes. As an exception to my own rule, I have decided to write a short article about the dreadful murders of two innocent policemen at the Folly Crossroads late in 1876.
Hungerford as we all know is (with exception of the tragedy of August 1987) a very peaceful place. A policeman once said to me that the town looks after itself and unlike other parts of the country we do not suffer the dreadful crimes that seem so commonplace these days.
My interest in the murder of the two policemen originated a couple years ago when I was being driven along the A338 towards Hungerford. My friend naturally slowed down as he approached the crossroads and it was as we moved on towards Hungerford that I noticed a small cross half hidden in the roadside undergrowth. I asked Steve if he knew why it was there and he vaguely commented that two Victorian policemen were murdered in the area in the 1870s and that two crosses were erected in memory of these poor men.
Whilst reading a history of Hungerford, I remember reading a couple of paragraphs about the murders but that was all I had to go on so I decided to research the crime.
My travels took me back to the late evening of Monday the 11th of December 1876 when Inspector Joseph Drewitt and Constable Thomas Shorter were both on their beats on the north side of Hungerford. Inspector Drewitt was from the Hungerford Police Station whilst Constable Shorter was the village constable from nearby Great Shefford.
They had agreed to meet up at the turnpike just down the hill from the crossroads, but this meeting never took place. At around ten o’clock another policeman a PC Golby, set out to meet Inspector Drewitt at a pre-arranged meeting point that being The Bear Hotel on the Bath Road. It was a dark night with very little moonlight and the weather was bleak, but PC Golby was not all that worried when his colleague failed to show up. He thought that the Inspector might have chanced upon some poachers who were very active in the fields around Hungerford in the nineteenth century.
In a way, PC Golby was correct in his assumption. The Inspector and his junior colleague had stumbled across some poachers near the Folly Crossroads with fatal results. The constable decided to walk towards the crossroads in the hope of meeting his colleague.
When he reached the top of the hill not far from the turnpike, he saw a figure sprawled in the road which he initially assumed to be a drunk. But to his horror it was the lifeless body of PC Shorter who had been battered beyond recognition.
PC Golby ran back to the turnpike and raised William Hedges, the gatekeeper and ordered that a strict observation be kept on the gate. He then returned Hungerford to raise the alarm. The police at Newbury were also alerted and a Superintendent Bennett arranged for the body of PC Shorter to be carried back into Hungerford.
The police were increasingly worried for the safety of Inspector Drewitt and PC Golby and so a PC Charles Brown from Kintbury proceeded to the crossroads. Although much busier these days, the Folly Crossroads are geographically more or less the same as they were in 1876. The A338 is obviously wider, but the two side roads have not changed at all.
PC Golby took the lane to the left (leading to Chilton Foliat) and PC Brown the lane to the right (leading to Denford). Almost at once, PC Brown found the body of Inspector Drewitt who like PC Shorter, had been battered about the head. He had also been shot in the neck at close range.
It was now three in the morning and a full scale investigation was beginning to take shape. When Inspector Drewitt’s body was lifted on to the cart (to be taken to the coach house at the John O’Gaunt Inn) a cap was found under the body. This was the first clue. Further investigation revealed that William Day (39) and his son-in-law William Tidbury (24) had been seen in the vicinity shortly before the murders took place. Both men came from Eddington which is situated at the foot of the hill, and were known locally as poachers. They were arrested at seven the following morning and taken to Hungerford Police Station (which still exists but at the time of writing is up for sale).
Two of William’s brothers, Henry and Francis were also arrested at the same time and all four were in their cells by nine in the morning of Tuesday the 12th of December 1876. The evidence was pretty damming (although by today’s standards this might not have been seen as sufficient).
The footprints found at the scene of the murders compared well with the prisoner’s footwear. Blood was found on the clothing of some of the prisoners, although this might have originated from animals (this was never confirmed). Gun stocks were found to be blood stained and the shot taken from Inspector Drewitt’s body compared well with the shot found in Day’s house. The cap found under Inspector Drewitt’s body was identified as belonging to Henry Tidbury. There were other associations that helped to convict both William Day and William Tidbury.
After this, the course of justice took its path and the accused men were committed for trial at the Reading Assizes on the 19th of February 1877. The trial lasted for two days and when the jury finally reached their verdict, both William Day and William Tidbury were found not guilty of the murders. William Tidbury was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact but this was not followed up and both men were stood down.
The brothers, Henry and Francis Tidbury were found guilty of the murder of PC Shorter. However, the jury recommended mercy in favour of Francis for two reasons. First, that the murder was unpremeditated and appeared to have occurred as the result of a struggle with the policemen getting tragically out of hand. Secondly Francis was only seventeen although some reports say he was thirteen). But the judge gave the pair the most severe sentence allowed. That of execution by hanging. The judge (Mr Justice Lindley), did however, note that he would pass the jury’s recommendations on to the appropriate quarter.
The second charge, that of murdering Inspector Drewitt, was heard by a fresh jury and the two acquitted prisoners faced the court once more. After some legal discussion no new evidence was presented and for the second time, both William day and William Tidbury were acquitted. It appears that the charge was left on the table because of perceived complications that might have damaged the initial trial. I am not a legal expert, but the whole thing appears muddled and the reasons why such a course of action was taken have faded into the mists of time.
The reprieve petitions that were sent to the Home Secretary were rejected on the 10th of March 1877. Before their execution both Francis and Henry Tidbury confessed fully to the crimes.
It appears that both the brothers were returning home after shooting pheasant. However, they ran into the two policemen and Francis Tidbury was caught. His brother ran to his aid and in the struggle with Inspector Drewitt, one of the guns went off wounding the inspector. Francis Tidbury then took a shot at PC Shorter but missed. The two brothers then chased the unfortunate constable down and clubbed him to death with their guns.
They then attacked the wounded Inspector and killed him in the same way.
Both men were executed at 8.00 am on Monday the 12th of March 1877 at Reading Jail (this was exactly three months after the initial arrests and as the press observed, the occasion of Henry Tidbury’s twenty-seventh birthday).
Both Inspector Drewitt and PC Shorter were laid to rest in the churchyard of St Saviour’s Cemetery which is located only a few hundred yards from where the crimes were committed.
Whatever the facts, the whole incident left a sour taste and years later (in the 1920s), two memorial crosses were placed where both policemen fell. Sadly, one of the crosses was stolen a few years ago and somebody took it into their head to vandalise the other one in 2002.
The crosses that you will find are replacements and were placed exactly where the original crosses had been located. I visited them a few days ago and they are happily still there, although one is almost obscured by nettles.
Please accept a word of warning should you decide to visit these crosses on foot. As with most roads today, the A338 is something of a racetrack with most drivers exceeding the speed limit. Add to this the narrowness of the pavement means that your journey could be a little challenging. Please therefore be very careful if you do attempt to walk to the Folly Crossroads. If you do drive, then please drive as it much safer.
Here are the rough directions starting from Hungerford Arcade.
Follow the Salisbury Road (A338) down the hill until you come to the junction with the Bath Road (A4).
Turn right and drive for a few hundred yards (you will pass over the River Kennett as you do so).
On your left you will see a garage that partially obscures the A338 as it emerges on to the A4.
Once you are on the A338 you will be faced with a shallow hill. You will also notice the entrance to St Saviour’s Cemetery on your right.
The Folly Crossroads are about half a mile ahead and cannot be missed.
The cross in the memory of PC Shorter is located about fifty yards from the crossroads and can be easily spotted on your right.
The second cross that being in memory of Inspector Drewitt, is located about fifty yards down the Denford Lane, (the lane to your right). As noted at the time of my visit, it was almost obscured by nettles, although it can be seen.
Even without knowing its gruesome history the Folly Crossroads is an odd place. It has views of Hungerford in the distance but even with all the traffic, it is a lonely spot. I visited the crossroads during the height of summer so technically I saw the area at its best, but there was bleakness present that I cannot really describe.
With regard to the graves of Inspector Drewitt and PC Shorter, I have not been able to locate their graves in the St Saviour’s Cemetery. This said, the churchyard is a very interesting place to visit and the unmarked graves of paupers from the Hungerford Workhouse can be found quite easily. It reminds one of how much our little town and society in general have changed in just two hundred years.
The important thing is that we remember, and that is why I feel that it is vital that the small crosses are maintained with care, otherwise people passing will no longer ask about the crosses that remember both Inspector Drewitt and PC Shorter. And the reasons why they were erected in the first place.
My interest in the murder of the two policemen originated a couple years ago when I was being driven along the A338 towards Hungerford. My friend naturally slowed down as he approached the crossroads and it was as we moved on towards Hungerford that I noticed a small cross half hidden in the roadside undergrowth. I asked Steve if he knew why it was there and he vaguely commented that two Victorian policemen were murdered in the area in the 1870s and that two crosses were erected in memory of these poor men.
They had agreed to meet up at the turnpike just down the hill from the crossroads, but this meeting never took place. At around ten o’clock another policeman a PC Golby, set out to meet Inspector Drewitt at a pre-arranged meeting point that being The Bear Hotel on the Bath Road. It was a dark night with very little moonlight and the weather was bleak, but PC Golby was not all that worried when his colleague failed to show up. He thought that the Inspector might have chanced upon some poachers who were very active in the fields around Hungerford in the nineteenth century.
