The Red Square

The Red Square is located towards the centre of Bastion Bay at the base of a small hill known as Mutineer's Fall. In the days when Bastion Bay (then known as Bastard Bay) was a refuge for pirates and smugglers the Red Square was used to try any crewman accused of mutineering, theft, and, among other things, “undue murder” - the pirates rationalising that sometimes murder was a completely acceptable response to a slight. The accused would be hurled bodily down the hill by his (usually drunken) former crewmates where his captain would be waiting for him. There, bloodied and bruised, they would “Palaver” and plead their case within a ring of rowdy and drunken sailors, pirates, and anyone else who wanted to watch the show. The palaver itself usually involved desperate begging, grovelling, or lying until the captain got bored and decided on the punishment for the accused. Punishments ranged from a swing from the hangman’s gallows, stretching on the rack, time in the stocks, or the loss of appendage, limb, or head to the block; the latter helping to give the square its name.
These days the square serves a far less gruesome purpose and has become the central marketplace of the town. Sandstone buildings line three sides of the square and the cool and spacious interiors are home to numerous traders, merchants, and fishmongers. The former gallows has been converted to a vibrant hanging garden and the battered old stocks hold nothing more than drunken revellers playing at being pirates. Roads from the north-west and south-west converge in the square, with the eastern road leading up Mutineer’s Hill to the current Capa’s home.

Type

Market square

Parent Location

Bastion Bay