An experience-orientated methodology was adopted when considering the artefacts, architecture, environs and actors in the performance of discipline, as it was considered the most meaningful way to integrate these diverse archaeological resources and their many properties (Mitchell 2006; Thomas 2006). Museum collections were investigated to identify relevant artefacts and visits then undertaken in order to study all examples first-hand. Artefacts were numbered A1-2: sackcloths; B1-7: discipline stools; C1-20: branks, and D1-31: jougs. Each artefact was recorded in a standard format A4 form [PDF]; however, this proved restrictive and in most cases it was the blank side of the paper that was most useful, allowing for unconstrained thoughts and illustrations. Attention was paid to factors such as weight, potential discomfort, and restrictiveness, as these were deemed important in reaching a phenomenological understanding.
Church interiors and layouts were also examined and researched. Church environs were walked over in order to understand the sounds and sights, and identify possible approaches (where not affected by subsequent urbanisation). Map-based research also informed this process. Extensive photographic documentation was undertaken throughout. Subsequently images and details were compared extensively to identify trends and irregularities. Almost total submersion in artefacts and settings generated the question: what would have to change about the imaginative world to make people feel they needed to create or adopt these objects? In striving to answer that question the following interpretations were reached, and the desire to communicate the engagement arose.
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