Reviewed 27 September 2026. BondageBox designs this furniture and has it built to our drawings by a UK partner workshop, so this is a category we sell. Our own prices appear below at the rate our quote builder would give you. Treat it as a disclosed price list rather than neutral market research.
Stocks hold a person by the neck and wrists in a hinged board that closes and locks. A pillory is the standing version, with the board at about chest height so the occupant is bent forward at the waist. The words get used interchangeably and nobody will correct you.
It is the piece most worth having made rather than bought, for one reason: the apertures have to fit the person in them, and almost everything sold off a shelf is cut to a single generic size.
Why the apertures have to be cut to the person
A stock board has three openings: a large one for the neck and two smaller ones for the wrists. Get them wrong in either direction and the piece fails.
Too tight and it presses on the sides of the neck. That is not a comfort issue, it is a circulation issue, and it puts a hard limit on how long anyone can stay in the piece regardless of what either of you wanted.
Too loose and the restraint does nothing. The occupant can shift, twist and in some cases withdraw a wrist entirely. A stock that can be escaped is a prop.
The fix is unglamorous: measure. A neck circumference and a wrist circumference, taken with a tailor's tape held snug but not pulled tight. Those two numbers are what an aperture should be cut from, with clearance added for comfort over a long period rather than for a few minutes.
What a shaped board is for
Look at a well-made stock board edge-on and it is not a plank. The timber swells around each aperture and narrows between them.
That is structural, not decorative. Boring a hole through a board removes material exactly where the board is working hardest, so the section has to be recovered around the opening. A flat plank with three holes through it is the same piece with the strength cut out, and it is why cheap stocks split along the grain between the neck and wrist openings.
Standing, or bending over
| Form | Board height | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Standing pillory | ~1150mm on a 1400mm frame | Upright, bent forward at the waist. The classic form. |
| Bench stocks | ~600–750mm | Kneeling or lying, often combined with a bench. |
| Bed-mounted | Set by the bed | Lifts off. Reads as ordinary furniture when removed. |
Height is set to the occupant, not to a standard. Send a height with the enquiry and the frame is built to it.
The standing cousin
If the appeal is the upright, head-and-wrists-held position rather than being bent forward, the piece you actually want may be a whipping post, often listed as a pole of shame. It carries the same three apertures in a chevron yoke, but at the top of a post rather than in a horizontal board, so the body is held against the timber standing straight. It takes up less floor than a pillory frame and it is easier to use for longer, because the spine stays neutral.
Locking, and why you might not want to
Most boards hinge on one side and close on a hasp on the other, and the hasp usually takes a padlock. Whether you actually lock it is a separate decision from whether it can be locked.
A padlock removes your ability to open the piece quickly. If you use one, the key lives in one agreed place, in the room, every time, with no exceptions and no cleverness about hiding it. A spring catch or a simple drop-pin gives most of the psychological effect with none of the risk, and it is what we would suggest for most people.
How long is safe
Shorter than people expect. The position loads the lower back and the shoulders, and the occupant cannot shift their weight to relieve either.
- Start at ten to fifteen minutes and see how it goes, rather than aiming for an hour.
- Check hands regularly. Cold, white, tingling or numb means out now, not in a minute.
- Agree a non-verbal signal. Bent forward with the neck held, speech is not reliable.
- Never leave someone in stocks alone, even briefly, even locked in the same house.
- Leather-lined apertures make a real difference over any session longer than a few minutes.
What they cost in the UK
Bench-style stocks attached to a frame start around £175. Standing pillories in solid hardwood run £600 to £750, and at that price the board is cut to a stock pattern, whatever the listing says about being handmade.
Ours is £865 in oiled oak, and the difference is the part you cannot see in a photograph: the apertures are cut from your own neck and wrist measurements, the board is shaped around them rather than bored through a plank, and the frame height is set to the person who will be standing in it. That is a piece made once, for one body. It is above the range above it and it is meant to be.
- Q: What is the difference between stocks and a pillory?
- Strictly, stocks hold the ankles and a pillory holds the neck and wrists, but modern usage treats them as the same thing and most makers list them together. What matters is the form: standing and bent forward, or lower and kneeling.
- Q: How do I measure for stock apertures?
- Neck circumference and wrist circumference, with a tailor's tape held snug but not pulled tight. Send both figures and the openings are cut from them with clearance for comfort over a long period.
- Q: Why are good stock boards not flat planks?
- Because the aperture removes material where the board is under most load. The timber swells around each opening and waists between them to recover that section. A flat plank with three holes bored through it splits along the grain between the neck and wrist openings.
- Q: How long can someone safely stay in stocks?
- Start at ten to fifteen minutes. The position loads the lower back and shoulders and the occupant cannot shift to relieve either. Check hands often for cold, numbness or colour change, and never leave anyone in them unattended.
- Q: Should I lock the board?
- You can, and most boards take a padlock, but it removes your ability to open the piece quickly. A spring catch or drop-pin gives most of the effect without that. If you do use a padlock, the key stays in one agreed place in the room every single time.
- Q: How much do wooden stocks cost in the UK?
- From about £175 for bench-style stocks on a frame, and £600 to £750 for a standing pillory in solid hardwood cut to a stock pattern. A commissioned one is £865 in oiled oak, with the apertures cut from your own measurements and the board shaped around them.
Sources & further reading
- The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 — goods made to a consumer's specification are exempt from the 14-day cancellation right. legislation.gov.uk
- Woodland Trust, English oak (Quercus robur) — species characteristics and working properties. woodlandtrust.org.uk
- BS 8539:2012, Code of practice for the selection and installation of post-installed anchors in concrete and masonry. Relevant to any piece fixed to a wall or floor.
- BondageBox price book,
config/furniture-options.php, current at the date of review.
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