Information for record number MWA3362:
Site of stocks, Sheep Street, Rugby

Summary The site of the stocks, a wooden structure in which offenders' hands and feet were locked as a punishment. They date back to at least the Imperial period. The stocks were located on Sheep Street, Rugby.
What Is It?  
Type: Punishment Place, Stocks
Period: Imperial - Industrial (1751 AD - 1913 AD)
Where Is It?  
Parish: Rugby
District: Rugby, Warwickshire
Grid Reference: SP 50 75
(Data represented on this map shows the current selected record as a single point, this is for illustrative purposes only and does not represent an accurate or complete representation of archaeological sites or features)
Level of Protection National - Old SMR PrefRef (Grade: )
Sites & Monuments Record
Picture(s) attached

 
Description

 
Source Number  

1 The printing office of "The Meteor" is on or near the site of the town prison...whilst a few yards westwards were the stocks...in no infrequent use some 50 years ago when the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway was being carried on.
2 This may be the same position as "behind the shambles in Sheep Street but were previously on the site of what is now Frosts."
3 Wait says the stocks were "behind the shambles but they were subsequently removed to Warwick Street, near the old fire engine house and lock-up"..."and have found a resting place in the possession of R.H.Wood esq JP."
4 Some of these positions could not be located. At those that could, there was no sign of either stocks or lock-up. The NGR refers to the shambles in Sheep Street.
 
Sources

Source No: 1
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Rugby
Author/originator: Bloxam
Date:
Page Number: 159
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 2
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Rugby as it was
Author/originator: RLHRG
Date:
Page Number: 12
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 3
Source Type: Bibliographic reference
Title: Rugby past & present
Author/originator: Wait W O
Date:
Page Number: 116
Volume/Sheet:
   
Source No: 4
Source Type: Site Visit
Title: SMR Card
Author/originator: Kilburn C D
Date: 1983
Page Number:
Volume/Sheet: PRN 3182
   
Images:  
The last man in the stocks, when they stood in Warwick Street, Rugby
Copyright: Warwickshire County Council
Date: 1865
Click here for larger image  
 
back to top

Glossary

 
Word or Phrase
Description  
source SMR Card Sites and Monuments Record Card. The Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record began to be developed during the 1970s. The details of individual archaeological sites and findspots were written on record cards. These record cards were used until the 1990s, when their details were entered on to a computerised system. The record cards are still kept at the office of the Warwickshire Sites and Monuments Record. back
period Imperial 1751 AD to 1914 AD (end of the 18th century AD to the beginning of the 20th century AD)

This period comes after the Post Medieval period and before the modern period and starts with beginning of the Industrial Revolution in 1750. It includes the second part of the Hannoverian period (1714 – 1836) and the Victorian period (1837 – 1901). The Imperial period ends with the start of the First World War in 1914.
more ->
back
monument YARD * A paved area, generally found at the back of a house. back
monument SHAMBLES * Traditionally a place where meat and fish were sold. back
monument SITE * Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible. back
monument LOCK * A section of the water channel on a canal or river shut off above and below by lock gates provided with sluices to let the water out and in, and thus raise or lower boats from one level to another. Use more specific type where known. back
monument PRISON * An establishment where offenders are confined. Use more specific type where known. back
monument INDUSTRIAL * This is the top term for the class. See INDUSTRIAL Class List for narrow terms. back
monument PUNISHMENT PLACE * A site where acts of corporal and capital punishment were carried out. back
monument WOOD * A tract of land with trees, sometimes acting as a boundary or barrier, usually smaller and less wild than a forest. back
monument FIRE ENGINE HOUSE * The carriage house or garage for a fire engine - especially those built by insurance companies or industrial concerns. back
monument STRUCTURE * A construction of unknown function, either extant or implied by archaeological evidence. If known, use more specific type. back
monument SIGN * A board, wall painting or other structure displaying advice, giving information or directions back
monument STOCKS * An instrument of punishment, in which the offender was placed in a sitting position in a timber frame, with holes to confine the ankles and wrists between two planks. back
monument OFFICE * A building or room where business, administrative or professional activities are conducted. Use specific type where known. back
monument RAILWAY * A line or track consisting of iron or steel rails, on which passenger carriages or goods wagons are moved, usually by a locomotive engine. back
monument TOWN * An assemblage of public and private buildings, larger than a village and having more complete and independent local government. back

* Copyright of English Heritage (1999)

English Heritage National Monuments Record