Village Stocks - St Margaret of Antioch - South Elmham St Margaret, Suffolk
Posted by: SMacB
N 52° 24.284 E 001° 24.035
31U E 391195 N 5807259
Village stocks at St Margaret of Antioch's church, South Elmham St Margaret.
Waymark Code: WM11X7E
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/03/2020
Views: 1
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.'
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