POPULAR Somerset author Roger Evans is back in action with a dark offering for these dark autumn and winter nights - Somerset: A chilling history of crime and punishment.

It is the story of the county’s infamous acts of crime and what happened to those who carried it out – including hanging days which attracted huge crowds of up to 20,000 people.

Highway robbery was as popular in Somerset in the 18th Century as it was in the rest of the country and unlike smuggling, which was seen as a Robin Hood type of crime by helping people who had to pay high duties on goods, it made people fearful of travelling. Some robbers were hanged, others transported to Australia.

The fairer sex also took part in crime and in Somerset, and that included murder, mostly of their husbands! And the punishment was not very pleasant – burning at the stake while still alive. This was later changed so that suffering would not be so prolonged; a pouch of gunpowder was tied around the woman’s neck with obvious results when it caught alight, but it meant she didn’t feel the pain of the flames, and later still they were strangled by the executioner before the flames did their work.

For couples who committed adultery, there was Skimmington Riding, when the two were made to sit back to back on a donkey while being paraded through the village in humiliation. There are also plenty of examples of the ducking stool, and stocks and pillories – a photo shows Bridgwater’s old stocks in Wembdon churchyard.

As recently as the Second World War the execution block at Shepton Mallet prison was used to end the lives of American servicemen serving in Britain who had committed crimes. The US service authorities were allowed to carry out the punishment of their home country and American law allowed the death penalty for murder and high treason, which was also carried out in Britain, but also for rape. Eighteen died by hanging or firing squad and the small building with a single window is now listed for its historical and architectural significance.

If you like the macabre, or simply have a taste for the history of your county, then this book offers an interesting read and the Bridgwater based author paints a rich tapestry of colourful stories of Somerset’s criminal past.

SOMERSET: A chilling history of crime and punishment, by Roger Evans, published by Countryside Books, £8.99.