Famous highwaymen in England. For 100 years, between the 17th and 18th centuries, Houndslow Heath was the most dangerous place in England. Across the Heath ran the Bath and Exeter roads used by wealthy visitors to the West Country resorts and courtiers returning to Windsor. These travellers provided rich pickings for highwaymen. Dick Turpin is one of the best remembered highwaymen who operated in this area, although he was often to be found in North London, Essex and Yorkshire.
Turpin was born in Hempstead in Essex in 1706 and trained as a butcher. Turpin frequently used the Old Swan Inn at Wroughton-on-the-Green in Buckinghamshire as his base. Turpin's famous ride from London to York was almost certainly not made by him but by another highwayman, 'Swift Nicks' Nevison during the reign of Charles II. The most gallant of the Heath's highwaymen was French-born Claude Duval.
Claude Duval painting by William Powell Frith, 1860.
Stand and Deliver! History of Highwaymen and Highway Robbery. Dick Turpin - Highwayman. CBBC - Horrible Histories: Dick Turpin Song. BBC Inside Out - Highwaymen.