From: GALLERY : A PICTORIAL BACKGROUND TO THE LIFE & TIMES OF WILLIAM ROWBOTTOM, circa 1757 - 1830

Manchester Pillory

"...a movable structure. It was erected in the Market Place when necessary, and consisted of a strong post about twenty feet high, with four stays at its insertion into the ground to support it. About ten feet from the ground was a circular stage or platform, large enough to allow several persons to stand on it. Four or five feet above this was fixed across the post, horizontally, a board about five feet long and eighteen inches deep, and in this cross piece were three holes or apertures, the largest and most central for the head, and the other two for the hands or wrists of the offender. In this prominent and uncomfortable position, the Manchester malefactor was condemned to stand for the prescribed time, whilst his neighbours pelted him with rotten eggs and other unpleasant missiles. The pillory remained in more or less frequent use until 1816, when it was finally removed."

From: 'Bygone Lancashire' Ed. by Ernest Axon. Pub. 1892