Reg Cundick and Danny Howell in the book The Inns And Taverns Of Warminster, published in November 1987, stated:
The Half Moon
Although it was in existence in the early 1700s, the Half Moon had closed before the end of the century. It was situated just beyond the old East Gate, which at that time was at the junction of Imber Road and Boreham Road. The present address of the inn’s site is 11 Boreham Road.
For robbing Benjamin Rebbeck of Stockton (Wiltshire), Matthew Gardner and John Wheeler were tried at Salisbury Assizes and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, Gardner made a confession to the turnkey at Fisherton Gaol. This included the statement: “I then broke into the shop of Mary Hardy at the Half Moon (Warminster) and took a quantity of cheese”. On 11th August 1783, Gardner and Wheeler were conveyed on a fish cart to Sutton Common, near Warminster, where they had committed their crime, and hung on a gallows, purposely erected. A large crowd of spectators watched the robbers’ gruesome demise.