Stocks, Smithy Lane, Cronton, Merseyside
Smithy Lane Stocks consist of two stone uprights and decayed wooden leg stocks for two people. They are unusual as they have five holes. They now (2007) stand in a small Council park at a corner of a cross roads in the village centre. They were formerly known as Cronton Stocks and stood in the middle of the village, opposite an old inn, the 'Unicorn." Stocks were used to punish people who were guilty of petty (less serious) crimes. They had to sit on a bench with their arms or legs in the holes for a set amount of time. Often other villagers made fun of them or threw things like rotten fruit at them.
