 A pamphlet detailing the burning in April 1652 of Joan Peterson , the so @-@ called Witch of Wapping , also describes the execution of Prudence Lee , found guilty of mariticide . Lee was apparently brought on foot , between two sheriff 's officers and dressed in a red waistcoat , to the place of execution in Smithfield . There she confessed to having " been a very lewd liver , and much given to cursing and swearing , for which the Lord being offended with her , had suffered her to be brought to that untimely end " . She admitted to being jealous of and arguing with her husband , and stabbing him with a knife . The executioner put her in a pitch barrel , tied her to the stake , placed the fuel and faggots around her and set them alight . Lee was reported to have " desired all that were present to pray for her " and , feeling the flames , " shrike [ d ] out terribly some five or six several times . " Burning alive for murder was abolished in 1656 , although burning for adultery remained . Thereafter , out of mercy , the condemned were often strangled before the flames took hold . Notable exceptions to this practice were the burnings in 1685 and 1726 of Elizabeth Gaunt , found guilty of high treason for her part in the Rye House Plot , and Catherine Hayes , for petty treason . Hayes apparently " rent the air with her cries and lamentations " when the fire was lit too early , preventing the executioner from strangling her in time . She became the last woman in England to be burned alive . 
