Late Night Tales. In the 1600s, Barker’s Pool was sometimes used for ducking harsh-tempered or overbearing women. For this, the ‘cuck stool’ was brought up from Lady’s bridge. The chair was attached to a long wooden beam and was lowered into the water. Repeated ducking routinely proved fatal, the victim dying of shock or drowning. The reservoir went out of use and filled up with rubbish, and in 1793 it was done away with.
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