I wish I had known about this before I published my book on Wife Selling. The following comes from ‘Highways and Byways in Devon and Cornwall’.

The Anchor Stone was a black rock in the middle of the River Dart described as:

“a most useful public institution in ancient Dartmouth. For thither the shipmen used to convey those scolding women and disobedient wives, who in other towns were, and are, so very hard to deal with. An hour’s sojourn on the Anchor stone with a rising tide was often quite enough to restore obedience to her seat; and if not, why the woman could be left there.”

Horrific!

There is now an Anchorstone Cafe!