The Town Cross & Stocks - Religion and Justice in Mediaeval

Denbigh.
The Old Town Cross
The old cross is the remains of what was once a very important feature at the heart of
community life.
Wales became Christian in the 6th Century and was part of a loosely knit Celtic Church
which stretched along the western side of Britain from Cornwall to Strathclyde. The Celtic
Crosses of that era were large, solid columns with characteristic Celtic tracery and not
many survived around here. By the 11th Century the old Celtic Church had been replaced
by the Roman Catholic Church which favoured slender crosses with elaborate carvings of
the crucifixion and saints. Good local examples have survived in Tremeirchion and
Derwen so we can safely assume that Denbighs High Cross was similar. It is probable
that it was provided by the Cistercian Friars at the bottom of town.
The cross was situated in the market place close to the present library and as well as
being a place for the parish priest to preach and parishioners to pray it was a place for
making important announcements, arranging business deals and hiring farm labourers.
During the Reformation and the Civil War in the 16th and 17th centuries old stone crosses
were a favourite target of militant Protestants and it is thought that they were to blame for
its vandalizing. Many crosses were pulled down and smashed to pieces but sometimes
the lower parts survived and were later recycled as the shafts of sundials. The only
original parts here are the base and the lower part of the shaft. The fate of the actual cross
is not known. The upper shaft and the stone globe on top were added at some later time.
It remained in the market for many years and the curved grooves were made by butchers
sharpening their knives. Later it was used as a lamp standard in Crown Square and then
banished up the hill to the castle where it languished in the old Bowling Green for many
years before being brought back here by the Town Council.

Crime & Punishment.

If the Denbighshire Free Press had been around in those days it would probably have had
a headline LOCAL MAN MAKES HISTORY when Dafydd, Lord of Denbigh met his
extremely sticky end.
The punishment of Hanging, Drawing and Quartering was invented by King Edward 1st
especially for him. Dafydd was the younger brother of Llewelyn The Last (True Prince of
Wales) who was killed in 1282. The punishment was performed in Shrewsbury and there
was a dispute between different English cities over who got the bits. Both Winchester and
York claimed Dafydds right shoulder - and Winchester won. A later victim of this
punishment was William Wallace (Braveheart). The last time anyone was sentenced to be
hung, drawn and quartered it was the 3 Welshmen who were the leaders of the Chartist
Riots in Newport in 1839. Fortunately for them it was commuted to transportation to
Australia

There was a gallows on Denbigh Green according to a map published in 1719 and
possibly one on Galch Hill. The last person to be hanged in this country went to the
gallows in 1964 and the punishment was abolished in 1969.
The most serious crimes such as murder were sent to the Crown Court (Assizes) in
Chester while lesser ones were tried in the County Court (Quarter Sessions) and the
minor offences would come before the town magistrates. Corporal punishment was part of
mediaeval life and would have been doled out for minor theft, drunkenness and bad
behaviour etc. There were 3 methods 1) The Whipping Post 2) The Pillory 3) The Stocks.
(Whipping Boy - a scapegoat who lived in the royal court and was punished in place of a
prince when he did something wrong)
THE PILLORY: the person being punished stood in the pillories with his hands and head
secured. He was unable to dodge anything thrown at him and there was a danger of injury
from hard or sharp objects or fainting and dying from choking. It was abolished in 1837.
THE STOCKS were relatively kinder and continued in use until 1872.
The idea behind both was that the public could mock and abuse them and throw things at
them. How long were they kept in them? Were they allowed to have food or go to the
toilet?