The Courtroom Experience is permanently CLOSED
In 1844 the body of local girl Charlotte Dymond was found murdered in a ditch on the slopes of Rough Tor, Cornwall’s highest peak. Her boyfriend, Matthew Weeks, was tried and convicted of her murder. Shortly after he was hanged at Bodmin Jail.
At the time there was considerable circumstantial evidence supporting this verdict including the fact Weeks was seen walking Charlotte up to the moor the day of her death and was later seen with muddy and torn clothes. It was also found that Charlotte had had an affair with 26 year old Thomas Prout, thus providing jealousy as a motive.
It is argued that Matthew Weeks was of low intelligence and this may have been exploited by the police to gain a confession to subdue considerable local anger. There is some weight to this argument as his confession was not worded in the way one would expect of a farm worker.
The Courtroom Experience provides an interactive tour of the spooky cells and original courtroom culminating in a re-enactment of the trail in which you are invited to determine the verdict. The trail itself is a mixture of lights and animatronics led by the court usher. At the end there you will learn the historical outcome of the case.
