How many men could be hung at once on the gallows?
Folklore traditions hold that the gallows could hang 12 men at once. This is unlikely, and nearly impossible given the size of the scaffold. The 1886 gallows scaffold had a trapdoor 16 feet long; if a space of two feet was allowed for each person, this could at most execute eight men at once. In fact, contemporary accounts confirm this. However, only six men were ever executed at once (on two occasions).
