An ominous and foreboding stone prison, Bodmin Jail was the first to hold prisoners in individual cells. The first jail was built in 1779 but the present buidling was completed in 1860. During its 150 year period as a grim and dark place of punishment, a total of 55 prisoners were executed, all by hanging. In 1844 a crowd of 20,000 gathered to witness the hanging of Matthew Weeks, executed for supposedly murdering his girlfriend Charlotte Dymond. The last public hanging in Britain was here in 1909 and seven years later the civil prison was eventually closed. During the First World War the empty jail was entrusted with keeping some of the nation's treasures including the Domesday Book, State Papers, and some say the Crown Jewels. As the building was a site of much premature death and intense suffering, there have been many supernatural incidences throughout the jail. In particular, the ghost of Matthew Weekes apparently haunts the prison because he was innocent. Other notible occupants said to roam its deserted corridors and cells today include Selina Wadge who was hanged the murder of her illegitimate son and Anne Jefferies who was starved until she admitted to being a witch.