Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous Pictures.

Demolition of livestock pens, Bargate, 1974.

Bottle from the Eagle Brewery, Boston.

The Bath Gardens and old General Hospital.

Potato weigher, made in Boston.

T.V. detector in Tower Street.

Strait Bargate, 1964.

Building the Starlight Rooms, 1960's.

Boston Station, 1962.

32, Market Place, near where the Waterfront pub is now.

Advert for Wright's garage, Wide Bargate.

The Ferry from Skirbeck Road to Edwin Street, off High Street.

The livestock pens and bull ring in Wide Bargate, the Red Cow pub is in the distance.

The Merseybeats 'down the dance' in the 1960's.

Middlecott Almshouses, demolished in 1966. Middlecott Close was built on the site.

The Market Place,1914. Recruiting for World War One.

Boston & District Ploughing Society celebrations, unknown date.

The Corn Exchange.

The corner of Stanbow Lane and Pinfold Lane in 1964.

The old Drill Hall, near the present day Matalan store.

The Boston Coat of Arms.

Early Fire brigade, outside the Municipal Buildings, West Street.

The Lord Nelson Field. (where Nelson Way is now)

Unexploded bomb outside Cammacks shop, Wide Bargate in 1940.

A room of the Whale Inn showing a mosaic of a whale in 1971.

Cheer's shop in West Street.

Soldiers in West Street, returning from the Boer War.

The last commercial sailing ship to leave Boston Dock (Danish).

Blackfriars in 1856.

The old St. Botolph's Church bellringers.

27, Wormgate in 1910.

Where the Waterfront pub is now.

Arme's down West Street.

Strait Bargate in the 1980's.

Bedford's Mill, where the Pizza Hut car park is now on Fydell Crescent.



Whipping Posts and Ducking Stools

In the Market Place (near where Marks and Spencer’s is now) stood the Corn Cross or as it was more commonly called the Meal Cross, it was a high, elegant building, raised three steps above the surrounding level, and supporting a flat roof upon fourteen square stone pillars. In the centre of the roof was a small cupola, protecting from the weather a large bell, by the sound of which the Corn Market was opened and closed. On the western side of this Corn Cross stood the Pillory, and on the south west corner the Whipping Post.
To the south of the Corn Cross (about where the opening at the end of the M&S building is now) was a horse pond, in which the tanners of the town also washed their skins, also erected here was a Ducking Stool and any unfortunate would be immersed in the murky waters of the pond.
From the horse pond to Dolphin Lane was an open space but in the centre of this piece of ground, securely fixed in the earth, was a heavy metal bull ring to which on high days and holidays the old time Bostonians would tether a bull and bait him to madness with fierce dogs.
On the other side of the Market Place was the Butchery and on its north eastern corner the Stocks were fixed, these were later moved (see below) to Bargate Green.Another punishment was the Hurry Cart. The wrong-doer was taken around the town attached to this cart and received a portion of his punishment at the door of every alderman, a portion of one of these carts is stated to have remained in the town stores as late as 1795.

As if these things were not enough, in 1670 the Town Gaoler brought in the following list of articles belonging to the gaol:—3 locks and keys for the windows and chimneys, 10 horse-locks, 4 pairs of cross fetters, 2 chains, 3 pairs of handcuffs, a pair of pothooks with two rivets and shackles, 5 pairs of iron fetters and shackles, and a U brand to burn persons in the hand, to this pleasant list of articles another burning iron was added in 1703, and in 1722 a pair of thumb-screws!