167 – Ankle Shackle

Physical description:

A shackle hand-forged in two sections: a curved section with one end bent to form a loop, and a hollow rectangular tube-like section, bent to form a flat end with a hole that the loop passes through to join them together. There is another hole at the end of the curved section that is pushed into a hole in the side of the rectangular section, and would have been held in place with a peg (now missing).

Museum classification:

Persecution

Size:

35 x 140 x 115

Information:

Original text by Cecil Williamson: "This is an ankle shackle from the Bodmin Bridewell women's wing. It is reported that these shackles were used to secure the inmate's leg to the foot of their bed so as to prevent them from wandering and prowling about at night, an activity to which old folk are prone."

Resource:

Object

Materials:

Metal (iron)

Copyright ownership:

MWM

Original text by Cecil Williamson: "This is an ankle shackle from the Bodmin Bridewell women's wing. It is reported that these shackles were used to secure the inmate's leg to the foot of their bed so as to prevent them from wandering and prowling about at night, an activity to which old folk are prone."