This is the fifth 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 the historic village of Eyam.
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. In 1351, the Statute of Labourers Act decreed that every town & village should maintain a set of stocks to punish "unruly artisans"! By 1494, The Vagabonds and Beggars Act stated that “Vagabonds, idle and suspected persons shall be set in the stocks for three days and three nights and have none other sustenance but bread and water and then shall be put out of Town.”
The stocks in Eyam were restored for the Festival of Britain in 1951, but are believed to date from the late 17th Century. They were probably erected by the Barmote Court which was specifically created to deal with any wrongdoings of lead miners in the area. The stocks consist of two piers constructed from local millstone grit or gritstone, with a central groove. The wooden boards are replacements & have fours holes. The stocks are found on the village green, but this is unlikely to be their original position, which is unknown. The stocks were Grade II Listed in 1984; one of 55 listed buildings in Eyam!
This short event will give us an opportunity to meet up safely outside for some geochat & to swap trackables in hopefully peaceful & beautiful surroundings. Eyam is an extremely popular Peak District destination & can get very busy during the summer. On street parking is extremely limited, but there are two car parks off Hawkhill Road; one free with a donation requested & the other charging £2 for all day parking. There are plenty of caches in the area, if you haven't done them previously as well as the history of the village itself to keep you interested. There may even be a new cache published for the occasion...