 It is uncertain when the Halifax Gibbet was first introduced, but it may not have been until some time in the 16th century; before then decapitation would have been carried out by an executioner using an axe or a sword.The device, which seems to have been unique in England, consisted of two tall parallel beams of wood joined at the top by a transverse beam.Running in grooves within the beams was a square wooden block in length, into the bottom of which was fitted an axe head weighing .