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During the 18th and 19th centuries Dunchurch was a major staging post on the road from London to Holyhead with up to forty coaches a day using the area to refresh the horses and the passengers at one of its many hostelries of one sort or another, and so it is no surprise that with this historical connection the village would also be home to the public stocks which would have had regular use during this period.

The stocks have been moved around the green a few times since then and a range of adaptations and repairs made leaving them in a very poor way. As a resident of the village I was asked to undertake a repair, which quickly turned into a rebuild as the timber was in such a poor state. There was a small issue with the fact that the stocks are grade two listed, but we were able to demonstrate to the conservation officer that large parts of them were in fact relatively new (1960’s) and the rest was way past restoration, it was agreed to apply for a delisting.  We still have the parts stored safely until we get approval but in the meantime the new stocks have been installed and are now ready for the first miscreant in need of a lesson.