Instruments of a Much Forgotten Time

On the side of the Malvern Hills, set back from the road, is a small fenced area. Many people will pass on an average day not giving it a second glance but what they fail to see is that it contains a small piece of history. Well before Malvern became the town that it is today, in more rural and parish times, a set of stocks and whipping post were placed on common ground (it is believed during the 17th / 18th century). They formed part of the local justice system and people who were seen to have done wrong were confined to the stocks for all to see.

Unfortunately what you see today aren't the originals but replicas. In 1897 the original whipping post was "whipped" (as reported by the press) followed by the stocks being vandalised. So in 1906, to prevent further damage, a set of railings were erected and by 1930, as they were on common land, the Malvern Hills Conservators decided to preserve what was there for future generations to see.

As they are just round the corner from where I live I'll pass them most days and as can be seen they are still cared for being mowed and maintained several times a year.

---

Stocks Drinking Fountain and Trough, Spring, Spouts, Fountains and Holly Wells of the Malvern Hills

Stocks, Whipping Post and Animal Pound Opposite Holy Trinity Church

Stocks Fountain, Whipping Post and Stocks, Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Europe / UK-England

Lat: 52° 7' 9.884" N
Long: 3° 20' 50.044" W

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Taken with a Nikon D300 and a Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G fisheye lens. Mounted on a Nodal Ninja 5 panorama head and R-D16 rotator atop a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod. Shots taken at 6 positions 60° apart, tilted 15° down and another shot taken looking straight up. Raw files then processed in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.7 before being stitched together using PTGui 10.0.15 Pro and converted using Pano2VR 6.1 beta3b.