UK NETFLIX DARK TOURIST ATTRACTION HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE, GL14 3NL. ORIGINAL RARE KU KLUX KLAN EXPLOITATION AND SEXPLOITATION MOVIE POSTERS … BANNED FROM PUBLIC DISPLAY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD , BUT ALL EXHIBITED HERE.

 

LESSON’S FROM HISTORY … LEST WE FORGET !!

HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL AND THROUGH OUR BUSINESS FACEBOOK WE TRY AND PROVIDE A BALANCED AND HOPEFULLY HISTORICALLY EDUCATIONAL INTERACTIVE INSIGHT INTO WHAT MANY DEEM TO BE TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS .

PLEASE DO BE AWARE THAT  THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IT’S OWNER , OR ANY OF IT’S STAFF HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVE NO AFFILIATION, CONNECTION OR INVOLVEMENT WITH ANY EXTREMIST , POLITICALLY MOTIVATED OR ANY OTHER MOVEMENTS WHATSOEVER …… WE SIMPLY EXHIBIT AND TOUCH UPON A GREAT MANY POLITICALLY INCORRECT AND TABOO SUBJECT MATTERS THAT NO OTHER VISITOR ATTRACTIONS DARE COVER IN THE WAY WE CHOOSE TO DO HERE. …. “IT’S ALL HISTORY FOR GOODNESS SAKE”….EVEN IF ON OCCASIONS, SENSITIVE , THOUGHT PROVOKING SUBJECT MATTERS THAT INCITE STRONG DEBATE .

WIDELY REGARDED TO BE BLACK RACIST MOVIES MANY OF THESE NOW BANNED KU KLUX KLAN MOVIE POSTERS WERE DEEMED TO BE A GLORIFICATION TOOL AND USED FOR RECRUITMENT OF NEW MEMBERS INTO THIS WHITE EXTREMIST HOODED ROBE MOVEMENT

 

 

HERE BELOW IS A BRIEF PICTORIAL INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE KKK MEMORBILIA ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

 

Movies about the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

Ever since the release of legendary director D.W. Griffith’s controversial epic The Birth of the Nation (1915), based on Thomas F. Dixon Jr.’s (play and) novel titled The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan and featuring silent star Lillian Gish and future Oscar winner Donald Crisp (among others), classic Hollywood seems to have avoided taking on the KKK to expose its wicked acts or its members’ ignorant beliefs in any substantive way. Though there are several dramas which incorporate it – or at least Klan-like organizations – peripherally, classic films that feature any real detail about its beginnings, longevity, charters, or even insight into its leaders and/or their motivations etc. are surprisingly absent. Maybe the studios felt that real evil and its practitioners were being adequately portrayed in their gangster and war pictures, or perhaps there were fears that a movie about the Klan wouldn’t make good at the box office (particularly in the South)?

The Warner Bros.’s Storm Warning (1951) wasn’t very specific about the KKK’s prejudices, though much of the film’s dialogue (from prosecutor Ronald Reagan and the miscast Ginger Rogers character) does deliver the requisite indictment of the organization and its members: too scared to act without the courage of numbers or show their faces (hence the hoods). But the twist is that the Grand Dragon’s real motivation for leading the clandestine group is financial – there’s real money for him in the dues and the paraphernalia he sells to its members – such that he comes off as a corrupt union boss, or worse a capitalist;-) In the end, the leader’s true self centered (versus “all for one”) nature is revealed and the enraged and disillusioned group wises up and runs for cover from the law. Warner’s Black Legion (1937), starring Humphrey Bogart and featuring a plot plausible enough to earn Robert Lord his second Best Writing-Original Story AA nom, did a better job of exploring the roots of hatred and xenophobia that can seduce one to join such an organization. Since I wrote about MGM’s Stars in My Crown (1950) in my earlier Films about Faith essay, I’ll not include any more text about it here other than to mention that actor Ed Begley (Sr.) seemed to have excelled in portraying angry racist characters. The WB’s (and producer-director Mervyn LeRoy’s) overlong drama The FBI Story (1959), a veritable paean to the organization’s squeaky clean agents and the stout leadership of J. Edgar Hoover, warrants barely a mention except that one of its storylines includes the infiltration of the KKK by the film’s principal character, played by James Stewart.

Which brings me to The Mating Call (1928), produced by Howard Hughes and including titles written by future Oscar winner Herman J. Mankiewicz. The Klan-like organization in this one is named “The Order” and its purpose is to enforce a morality code within its community: black hooded individuals tie a wife beater to a cross and whip him for abusing his spouse. But the primary sin herein is adultery. Upon returning home a hero after serving his country during World War I, Leslie Hatton (Thomas Meighan) finds that his wartime marriage to Rose (Evelyn Brent, playing a sexually aggressive man-eater) was annulled by her parents. But even though he’s (somehow) not interested in having an affair with his former bride, Hatton’s accused of fooling around with Rose by her current husband Lon, a hypocrite that’s having extramarital relations of his own (with a judge’s daughter, no less). Lon uses The Order to threaten the war hero to leave his wife alone. Hatton’s solution to avoid future visits and further scrutiny from these local self-appointed moral authorities includes his going to Ellis Island and marrying a French girl (Renee Adoree, The Big Parade (1925)) whose parents want to immigrate to the United States. However, a subsequent scandal affecting the aforementioned characters (and others) leads The Order to become involved in Hatton’s life again.

Some other dramas that feature the KKK or like-minded groups are: Legion of Terror (1936), The Burning Cross (1947), Another Part of the Forest (1948), The Klansman (1974), Places in the Heart (1984), which earned writer (director) Robert Benton (Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)) his third Oscar, and Mississippi Burning (1988); plus, it’s hard to forget the hilarious scene in Mel Brooks’ western spoof Blazing Saddles (1974) in which Cleavon Little (accompanied by Gene Wilder) dons a white rob and hood

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FREAKS OF NATURE, CURIOSITIES, ODDITIES,BIZARRE, THE TABOO, THE MACABRE, WITCHCRAFT & THE OCCULT. SATANISM, THE ILLUMINATI, SECRET SOCIETIES & SO MUCH MORE. IT’S ALL HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN, UK

Wouldn’t it be fascinating to try and revive the old Victorian style sideshows featuring both human freaks and freaks of nature?

 

This is still one of our future aims to host here at the jail ….

 

Whilst possibly deemed to be politically incorrect in today’s society… our view is that it would be a great spectacle here in the UK ? 

 

Hence we are still actively on the look out for any human freaks out there who would wish to participate in this venture and interact with the public…

ABOVE: “PORKY THE PIG ” OUR RARE FREAK BORN  TAXIDERMY VICTORIAN GLOUCESTER OLD SPOT PIGLET  HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL IN AND AMONGST OUR VARIOUS FREAKS OF NATURE 

“Google” our  two headed, three eyed puppy dog that was previously on display at the Jamaica Inn, Cornwall , before being acquired for display here at Littledean Jail

Above & Below : Various Freaks Of Nature here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean jail, UK

“MOO-MOO” …….. OUR FREAK BORN TWO HEADED CALF HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

BELOW: A BIT OF A SAD VIDEO CLIP OF A STRUGGLING TO WALK  “LIVING FREAK OF NATURE”  …. A NEW BORN CALF WITH ONE HEAD, THREE EYES AND TWO SNOUTS ..

BELOW : NOSTRILDAMUS OUR FREAK BORN FOAL – BORN HERE IN LITTLEDEAN, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK, 2017 .

BELOW: ANDY JONES OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL WITH A PRESERVED TWO HEADED SNAKE ( NOT LIVE ) WHICH IS ON DISPLAY WITH THE OTHER VARIOUS FREAKS OF NATURE .

 

BELOW : “NODDY” … OUR TWO HEADED FREAK PHEASANT

BELOW:  PHUCKED- Phuckus Duckus  ( part Pheasant & duck ) here on display at the Jail

 ABOVE IS AN IMAGE OF A ” FUR BEARING TROUT”  …..  A THEN TYPICAL VICTORIAN FREAK-SHOW ATTRACTION ….     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9jnLzpEaXE

HERE’S A PICTORIAL INSIGHT INTO OUR OWN FREAKS OF NATURE EXHIBITION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL , WHICH IS ALSO AVAILABLE AS A TOURING EXHIBITION DURING OUR CLOSED SEASON AT THE JAIL ( 1ST NOVEMBER UNTIL 31ST MARCH) FOR DETAILS PLEASE EMAIL JULES@CONCERTPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK

ALSO BELOW ARE SOME INTRIGUING INTERACTIVE VIDEO FOOTAGE OF A TWO HEADED KITTEN (BORN IN THE USA) AND A TWO HEADED CALF ( BORN IN GEORGIA) … BOTH BORN ALIVE AND ARE SIMILAR TO THE ONES WE HAVE HERE ON DISPLAY (OUR’S ARE OBVIOUSLY SADLY  NO LONGER LIVING  )

LADY GAGA OUR FREAK BORN TWO FACED KITTEN  MEETS GOOGLE OUR FREAK BORN TWO FACED THREE EYED PUPPY

ABOVE AND BELOW : ORIGINAL CANVAS PAINTINGS BY GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARTIST PAUL BIRDGMAN ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

LADY GAGA MEETS GOOGLE

SHRUNKEN HEADS

TWO-HEADED RAT

GOOGLE THE THREE EYED TWO-FACED PUPPY

SHRUNKEN HEAD

SHRUNKEN HEAD

REAR SHOT OF SIX LEGGED PIGLET

LADY GAGA OUR TWO FACED KITTEN

LADY GAGA OUR TWO FACED KITTEN

“Pandora” the six legged, two bodied kitten on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

“Kitty” the seven legged , two bodied kitten on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

BONKING MONKEYS

“Face ” the two faced, one headed piglet born circa 1860 on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

GRIZZLY THE BEAR

SWAMPY THE 10 FOOT CROCODLIE

“Face ” the two faced, one headed piglet born circa 1860 on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

“Face ” the two faced, one headed piglet born circa 1860 on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

“Kitty” the seven legged , two bodied kitten on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

GOOGLE THE THREE EYED TWO-FACED PUPPY

TWO HEADED TERRAPIN

“Kitty” the seven legged , two bodied kitten on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

“Pandora” the six legged, two bodied kitten on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

WINNIE AND BOO BOO THE INDIAN BEARS ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

“Noddy ” the two headed pheasant on display as “freaks Of Nature Collection”

GOOGLE THE THREE EYED TWO-FACED PUPPY

ABOVE AND BELOW ARE IMAGES OF “BAA BAA” GLOUCESTERSHIRE  FREAK BORN  EIGHT LEGGED, FOUR EARED, TWO BODIES AND ONE HEADED LAMB HERE ON DISPLAY IN AMONGST OUR FREAKS OF NATURE COLLECTIONS .

 LADY GAGA ….. OUR FREAK BORN TWO FACED , THREE EYED KITTEN HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

ABOVE : TWO HEADED RAT ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

ABOVE: ORIGINAL TIBETAN HUMAN  SKULLS & RAMS HEAD  ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

BELOW: ORIGINAL HUMAN SKULL CHALICES USED FOR SACRIFICIAL, WITCHCRAFT AND OCCULT CEREMONIAL GATHERINGS

BELOW : ORIGINAL MONKEY SKULL NECKLACE USED FOR VOODOO AND BLACK MAGIC .

LIFESIZE “BAPHOMET-HORNED GOD”  ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

LADY EMILIA – WITCH OF THE FOREST ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL

ALEX SANDERS HIGH PRIEST “KING OF THE WITCHES ” & HIGH PRIESTESS WIFE MAXINE “QUEEN WITCH ” FEATURED HERE ON DISPLAY IN AND AMONGST THE ” WITCHCRAFT AND THE OCCULT COLLECTION ” AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL , UK

ABOVE & BELOW : Pictured here are some of our Alexandrian Wiccan Casting Circles which form part of our exhibition area.

Alex Sanders ( 6 June 1926-30 April 1988).  Born Orrell Alexander Carter, who went under the craft name Verbius, was an English occultist and High Priest in the Pagan religion of Wicca, responsible for founding the tradition of Alexandrian Wicca during the 1960s. Raised in a working-class family, he was introduced to esoteric ideas by his mother and grandmother from a young age, and as a young man began working as a medium in the local Spiritualist Churches before going on to study and practice ceremonial magic. In 1963, he was initiated into Gardnerian Wicca before founding his own coven, through which he merged many aspects of ceremonial magic into Wicca. He claimed to have been initiated by his Grandmother as a child, though evidence for this is lacking. Throughout the 1960s, he would court publicity in the press, appearing in a number of documentaries, marrying the far younger Maxine Sanders, and being declared to be the “King of the Witches” by his followers, something that led to other prominent Gardnerian Witches, such as Patricia Crowther and Eleanor Bone, attacking him in the press. In the late 1970s and 1980s, he went on to work with a ceremonial magical group known as the Ordine Della Luna, prior to his death. The tradition he founded with Maxine Sanders became known as Alexandrian Wicca.

Below : An intriguing video footage on the seemingly bizarre life of Alex Sanders

Below : One of the collage features on display within Littledean Jail’s “Witchcraft, Paganism, Wiccan, Satanism, The Occult, The Illuminati and Secret Societies Collection ” .

 

Below : Alex Sanders initiation into the sacred Mysteries

Below : One of the collage features on display within Littledean Jail’s “Witchcraft, Paganism, Wiccan, Satanism, The Occult, The Illuminati and Secret Societies Collection ” .

Above: Original painting by Paul Bridgman on display here at Littledean Jail of Alex Sanders , Maxine Sanders during the initiation of Janet Farrar, the wife of High Priest husband Stewart Farrar.

Above: Original painting of High Priest Stewart Farrar and his High Priestess wife Janet , here on display at Littledean Jail

Below: Baphomet Ouija board on display at Littledean Jail

 

Below: Original paintings by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman depicting Alex Sanders and his High Priestess wife Maxine,  along with Baphomet… The Horned God , both on display at the jail

 

BELOW: ‘BEAKY BLINDER’ OUR MYSTICAL AND SPIRITUAL RAVEN- GUARDIAN AND KEEPER OF LITTLEDEAN JAIL

Below : Collage of newspaper clippings featuring Alex Sanders on display at Littledean Jail

 

Original painting by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman depicting Gerald Gardner, and High Priestess’s Monique Wilson and Patricia Crowther  on display at the jail

LP Album cover of Alex Sanders  ” A Witch Is Born ” on display at the Jail

Original painting by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman depicting Aleister Crowley ,   on display at the jail

Below: Various images and a brief insight into an Alexandrian Casting Circle, Baphomet Horned God, Witchcraft Altar etc , here on display at Littledean Jail, Forest of Dean , Gloucestershire, UK .

Above and Below : Original oil paintings by local artist Paul Bridgman depicting our Alexandrian Baphomet “Horned God” on display in and amongst our exhibition areas.

NETFLIX UK DARK TOURIST ATTRACTION HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE….CORPORAL PUNISHMENT THROUGH THE AGES ALONG WITH A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO PRESENT DAY CORPORAL PUNISHMENTS TOO…. IT’S ALL HERE AND MORE …

ABOVE: A VERY EARLY POSTCARD IMAGE OF LITTLEDEAN GAOL,SPELT HERE IN THE OLD FASHION WAY .

  IT WAS ALSO FORMERLY USED AS A  “HOUSE OF CORRECTION “, LATER TO BECOME A POLICE STATION,COURTHOUSE AND NOW  IS THE HOME OF THE INFAMOUS CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION .

ABOVE: Original Victorian 3-handcuffed leather body belt and original leather bound handcuffs

ABOVE : EARLY VICTORIAN LITTLE DEAN PRISON WARDEN/GUARD TUNIC BUTTON ( A VERY RARE FIND FOR SURE ) 

Possibly of little significance to visitors …. however I love this item which has been recently discovered and acquired for display here . Intriguingly this early Victorian Prison Warden/Guard tunic button is worded LITTLE DEAN (AS TWO WORDS) WITH PRISON BENEATH (INSTEAD OF GAOL )  … as opposed to it’s early title as having been “Littledean Gaol”.

BELOW: ORIGINAL VICTIORAN STRAIGHT JACKET THAT WAS FOUND IN LITTLEDEAN JAIL’S ATTIC SPACE BY BUILDERS DURING RENOVATION WORK BACK IN 1986 AND SUBSEQUENTLY DONATED TO THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION FOR PERMANENT DISPLAY HERE AT THE JAIL 

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT THROUGH THE AGES AS WELL AS AN INSIGHT INTO PRESENT DAY CORPORAL PUNISHMENTS TOO, AS FEATURED AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION  HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL 

ABOVE :AN ARRAY OF VARIOUS 19TH CENTURY HANDCUFFS, RESTRAINTS AND LEG IRONS HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL .

CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN MALAYSIA FOR RAPE, ARMED ROBBERY , DRUGS ETC 

ORIGINAL EARLY 16TH- 17TH CENTURY HANDMADE OAK  “VILLAGE PUNISHMENT  STOCKS” RESTORED IN THE 19TH CENTURY WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING IRONWORK AND PRESERVED FOR POSTERITY ….. AS CAN NOW BE SEEN AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL,LITTLEDEAN, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK

VILLAGE STOCKS 

Stocks are devices used in the internationally, in medieval, Renaissance and colonial American times as a form of physical punishment involving public humiliation. The stocks partially immobilized its victims and they were often exposed in a public place such as the site of a market to the scorn of those who passed by. Since the purpose of putting offenders in the stocks was to expose them to ridicule and mockery, passers-by were encouraged to throw mud, rotten eggs, moldy fruit and vegetables, smelly fish, offal, and excrement (both animal and human) at those being punished.

ABOVE AND BELOW : WITCHES DUCKING STOOL  AND LIFTING PULLY  ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL

VARIOUS EARLY VICTORIAN LEATHER BOUND WHIPS AND CAT O’NINE TAILS USED WITHIN UK PRISONS ….. HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL

VARIOUS WHIPS, CAT O’NINE TAILS , BLUDGEON AND LEATHER BOUND HANDCUFFS  USED WITHIN UK PRISONS HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL 

VARIOUS EARLY VICTORIAN LEATHER BOUND WHIPS AND CAT O’NINE TAILS USED WITHIN UK PRISONS ….. HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL

CLOSE-UP IMAGE OF ROUND HANDLED LEATHER BOUND EARLY VICTORIAN WHIP USED WITHIN UK PRISONS 

AS ABOVE

EARLY VICTORIAN BLACK CLOTH BOUND, ROUND HANDLED CAT O’NINE TAILS USED IN UK PRISONS

AS ABOVE

EARLY VICTORIAN FLAT HANDLED CAT O’NINE TAILS USED IN UK PRISONS

AS ABOVE

CLOSE UP IMAGE OF VICTORIAN LEATHER BOUND HAND RESTRIANTS AS USED HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL 

AS ABOVE

EARLY VICTORIAN LEATHER BOUND BODY RESTRAINT WITH ATTACHED HAND CUFFS USED IN UK PRISONS AND NOW ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL

CLOSE UP OF ABOVE

CLOSE UP OF ABOVE

AS ABOVE

AS ABOVE

AS ABOVE

AS ABOVE

AS ABOVE

BELOW : ORIGINAL 1930’s LEATHER BODY BELT RESTRAINT COMPLETE WITH WRIST RESTRAINTS ACQUIRED FROM THE MONICA BRITTON MUSEUM COLLECTION AT FRENCHAY HOSPITAL , BRISTOL AND NOW ON DISPLAY HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL , GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK

BELOW: ORIGINAL 1930’s LEATHER RESTRAINT STRAPS ACQUIRED FROM THE MONICA BRITTON MUSEUM COLLECTION AT FRENCHAY HOSPITAL , BRISTOL AND NOW ON DISPLAY HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL , GLOUCESTERSHIRE, UK

PRISON WARDEN INSCRIBED 18TH CENTURY TRUNCHEON AND EARLY VICTORIAN BODY RESTRAINT BELT HERE ON DISPLAY

INSCRIBED GEORGE 1ST PRISON WARDEN TRUNCHEON HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL

EARLY VICTORIAN BLUDGEON USED IN UK PRISONS …. HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL WITH PRISON WARDEN TRUNCHEON AND HIATT STEEL HANDCUFFS

EARLY VICTORIAN BLUDGEON  USED IN UK PRISONS

CLOSE-UP OF HIATT STEEL HANDCUFFS

corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable. The term usually refers to methodically striking the offender with an implement, whether in judicial, domestic, or educational settings.

Corporal punishment may be divided into three main types:

• Parental or domestic corporal punishment: within the family—typically, children punished by parents or guardians;
• School corporal punishment: within schools, when students are punished by teachers or school administrators, or, in the past, apprentices by master craftsmen;
• Judicial corporal punishment: as part of a criminal sentence ordered by a court of law. Closely related is prison corporal punishment, ordered either directly by the prison authorities or by a visiting court.

Corporal punishment of minors within domestic settings is lawful in all 50 of the United States and, according to a 2000 survey, is widely approved by parents.^[1]It has been officially outlawed in 29 countries.^[2]

Corporal punishment in school is still legal in some parts of the world, including 20 of the States of the USA, but has been outlawed in other places, including Canada, Kenya, Japan, South Africa, New Zealand, and nearly all of Europe except the Czech Republic^[3] and France.^[4]

Judicial corporal punishment has virtually disappeared from the western world but remains in force in many parts of Africa and Asia.

Contents [hide] 1 History of corporal punishment 2 Modern use 2.1 Corporal punishment in the home 2.2 Corporal punishment in schools 2.3 Judicial or quasi-judicial punishment 2.4 Pros and cons of corporal punishment 3 Anatomical target 4 Ritual and punishment 4.1 Corporal punishment, paraphilia and fetishism 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

History of corporal punishment

The practice was recorded as early as c. 10th Century BC in Book of Proverbs attributed to Solomon:

He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him correcteth him betimes.^[5]
Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.^[6]

It was certainly present in classical civilisations, being used in Greece, Rome, and Egypt for both judicial and educational discipline.^[7] Some states gained a reputation for using such punishments cruelly; Sparta, in particular, used them as part of a disciplinary regime designed to build willpower and physical strength.^[8] Although the Spartan example was extreme, corporal punishment was possibly the most frequent type of punishment. In the Roman Empire, the maximum penalty that a Roman citizen could receive under the law was 40 “lashes” or “strokes” with a whip applied to the back and shoulders, or with the “fasces” (similar to a birch rod, but consisting of 8–10 lengths of willow rather than birch) applied to the buttocks. Such punishments could draw blood, and were frequently inflicted in public.

In Medieval Europe, corporal punishment was encouraged by the attitudes of the medieval church towards the human body, flagellation being a common means of self-discipline. This had an influence on the use of corporal punishment in schools, as educational establishments were closely attached to the church during this period. Nevertheless, corporal punishment was not used uncritically; as early as the eleventh century Saint Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury was speaking out against what he saw as the excessive use of corporal punishment in the treatment of children.^[9]

From the 16th century onwards, new trends were seen in corporal punishment. Judicial punishments were increasingly turned into public spectacles, with public beatings of criminals intended as a deterrent to other would-be offenders. Meanwhile, early writers on education, such as Roger Ascham, complained of the arbitrary manner in which children were punished.^[10] Perhaps the most influential writer on the subject was the English philosopher John Locke, whose Some Thoughts Concerning Education explicitly criticised the central role of corporal punishment in education. Locke’s work was highly influential, and may have helped influence Polish legislators to ban corporal punishment from Poland’s schools in 1783.^[11]

During the 18th century, the concept of corporal punishment was attacked by some philosophers and legal reformers. Merely inflicting pain on miscreants was seen as inefficient, influencing the subject only for a short period of time and effecting no permanent change in their behaviour. Some believed that the purpose of punishment should be reformation, not retribution. This is perhaps best expressed in Jeremy Bentham’s idea of a panoptic prison, in which prisoners were controlled and surveyed at all times, perceived to be advantageous in that this system supposedly reduced the need of measures such as corporal punishment.^[12]

A consequence of this mode of thinking was a reduction in the use of corporal punishment in the 19th century in Europe and North America. In some countries this was encouraged by scandals involving individuals seriously hurt during acts of corporal punishment. For instance, in Britain, popular opposition to punishment was encouraged by two significant cases, the death of Private Frederick John White, who died after a military flogging in 1846,^[13] and the death of Reginald Cancellor, who was killed by his schoolmaster in 1860.^[14] Events such as these mobilised public opinion, and in response, many countries introduced thorough regulation of the infliction of corporal punishment in state institutions such as schools, prisons and reformatories.

In the 1870s, courts in the United States overruled the common-law principle that a husband had the right to “physically chastise an errant wife”.^[15] In the UK the traditional right of a husband to inflict moderate corporal punishment on his wife in order to keep her “within the bounds of duty” was similarly removed in 1891.^[16][17] See Domestic violence