This is the second in a series of events to bring us to some of the sites of correction used during the past in Derbyshire, with this one taking us to the stocks in Chapel-en-le-Frith in the High Peak.
The pillory & stocks are often confused. Stocks were designed to hold the feet, whilst a pillory would restrain the hands & the head of the criminal. Both were used throughout Medieval times to publicly humiliate wrongdoers & positioned in prominent places for maximum effect, although the punishment usually only lasted for a few hours. The person would be mocked & jeered by passers by & the criminal could also expect to be pelted with rotten vegetables & fruit or even worse...
The stocks in Chapel-en-le-Frith probably date from the 17th Century & the time of Oliver Cromwell & are believed to be in their original position, just a couple of metres from the old main road. They consist of two gritstone posts with deep grooves for the wooden boards to slot into. These boards have two sets of holes to hold two miscreants by both the hands & feet whilst they sat on the short bench to endure their punishment. The posts are set into cobblestones & the stocks are Grade II Listed.
This short event will give us an opportunity to meet up safely outside for some geochat & to swap trackables in hopefully peaceful & beautiful surroundings. I am hoping that the attributes I have added will not be necessary! I have provided waypoints for free parking in Thornbrook Road or Miry Meadows car parks or you can use the bus to reach Chapel-en-le-Frith. There is a good range of caches in the area if you haven't found them previously. There may even be a new cache published for the occasion...