Village Stocks - St Margaret of Antioch - South Elmham St Margaret, Suffolk - Punishment and Disciplinary Devices on Waymarking.com

Mid 19th century village stocks in the south porch of St Margaret of Antioch's church, South Elmham St Margaret. Notice the odd number of leg holes.... 5. Often stories are told of a particular troublemaker in the village with only one leg, for whom the extra hole was made.

'Five hole stocks originate from Roman times when the arms, legs and head were confined which was more a form of torture than a shaming punishment.

More likely with this example is that juveniles or women could have both legs confined to one hole so they could not wriggle free. Sometimes men were also confined by one leg alone.'

Ref - (visit link)

Type of Device: Stocks What is the approximate age?: 01/01/1850 How do you rate this item?: Associated Website: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Please submit your visiting log with a picture of the object and include some interesting information about your visit.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.