Hango Hill is an historic mound on the coast road between Castletown and

Derbyhaven Derbyhaven () ("King's Harbour" or "King's Cove") is a hamlet near Castletown in the southern parish of Malew, Isle of Man. It is located on the isthmus connecting Langness Peninsula to the rest of the island, on the bay of the same name, and al ...

Malew Malew ( ; ) is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the south of the Island (part of the traditional ''South Side'' division) in the sheading of Rushen. Administratively, part of the historic parish of Malew is ...

parish,

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

Prehistory

The mound is said to be a possible prehistoric burial site. The recovery of a bronze flat axe implies a possible Bronze Age date. Its name derives from the Norse ''hanga-haugr'', "Gallows hill".

Place of execution

Hango Hill was used as a place of execution at least until the 17th century. An entry in the burials register of

for 1604 states that William Keruish and Robert Calow, from

Kirk Maughold Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning 'church'. The term ''the Kirk'' is often used informally to refer specifically to the Church of Scotland, the Scottish national church that developed from the 16th-century Reformation ...

, for the murder of a certain Cottscam of that parish, were hanged at the Hango Hill gallows on 31 August and buried in the church of Kirk Malew, in front of the porch. It is most famous as the execution site of

Illiam Dhone or (literally meaning 'Brown William' in English; 14 April 1608 – 2 January 1663), also known as William Christian, was a Manx people, Manx politician and depending on viewpoint, patriot, rebel or traitor. He was a son of Ewan Christian ( ...

(William Christian) in January 1663, for his part in the Manx rising of 1651 against the Derby family and there is a broken-down monument with a plaque commemorating this. However the history is rather more complicated than that, as the island had been invaded by Parliamentary forces of the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

Building by the Earl of Derby

The monument is said to be the remains of a late 17th century summerhouse, or hall, known as Mount Strange, after a subsidiary title of the Earls of Derby. A hall was built on the summit of Hango Hill by the earls of Derby in the years following the execution of William Christian in 1663. The hall was about 10m in length, but now only about a third survives following the erosion of the coastline. Early drawings show a building with battlements, and it has been referred to as a "blockhouse"; it seems however only ever to have served as a banqueting hall and a summerhouse, and it was associated with horseracing organised by the Earls along the dunes to the east onto

Langness Langness () is a peninsula which protrudes two kilometres at the southern extremity of the Isle of Man. Signifying a cape or extended promontory, ''Langness'' literally means "long promontory" in Old Norse. Formerly an island, Langness was even ...

– the first "Derby" races. The erection of this building would appear to imply that the site ceased to be used as a place of execution. Certainly by the 19th century, executions were being carried out at

Castle Rushen Castle Rushen () is a medieval castle located in the Isle of Man's historic capital, Castletown, in the south of the Island. It towers over the Market Square to the south-east and the harbour to the north-east. The castle is amongst the best e ...

nearby. The estate of Hango Hill was placed in the hands of trustees by Bishop Barrow in 1668 for the purpose of founding an educational institution on the island; much later, the trust founded

King William's College King William's College () is a co-educational Private schools in the United Kingdom, private school for pupils aged 3 to 18 near Castletown, Isle of Man, Castletown on the Isle of Man. It is a member of the International Baccalaureate and Hea ...

, which lies across the road from the mound itself.

Modern era

A Committee of the Tynwald Court was appointed to consider what steps should be taken to preserve the ancient monuments at Hango Hill. It reported in November 1891. A picture of Hango Hill was featured in a set of Manx Revenue stamps issued in 1966. It is occasionally used as a gathering-place by Manx nationalists, with an annual speech in the Manx language. The site is promoted as a film location. Isle of Man Films

References

{{reflist Geography of the Isle of Man History of the Isle of Man