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 . The whole structure sat on a platform of stone blocks, square and high, which was ascended by a flight of steps. A rope attached to the top of the wooden block holding the axe ran over a pulley at the top of the structure, allowing the block to be raised. The rope was then fastened by a pin to the structure's stone base.