The gallows were generally installed away from the cities to avoid noise pollution but also to serve as a warning to the population.
They were made of four oak posts arranged in a square and topped with horizontal beams serving as gallows. During the Bernese Regime, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, many executions took place here, not only by rope, but also by sword, fire for witches and sorcerers, and even by wheel for highway robbers. The bodies were buried on the spot.
Since the end of the 17th century at least, the gallows of Morges only have three pillars arranged in a triangle. In 1750, they were rebuilt in stone, with three columns made of large masonry blocks, in yellow limestone, carefully cut. However, executions became rarer and in 1798, during the Vaudoise Revolution, the gallows, a strong symbol of the Ancient Regime, were demolished. The blocks were then partially reused in a cellar in the Rue de la Gare.
These fragments, rediscovered in 1903, were restored in 1958 in the vicinity of Le Boiron, not far from their original position.
The site, however, has been significantly modified by road improvements and the operation of a gravel pit. Today, this isolated column is hidden from the road by vegetation, slightly west of the Caroline mansion, upstream from the road roundabout. It was classified as a historical monument in 1958.
