It's the former or mould for a football. The football is stitched together inside out, leaving a small panel around the central rod. the central block is removed leaving space for the other sections to be removed. Then the leather is turned inside out and a bladder or inflatable ball is inserted, then blown up and the aperture is laced together.
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I think it's a church in Scotland. During the 19th century when there was a market for bodies for disection, Resurrectionists dug up corpses in the dead of night and sold them on to surgeons. This was a practical, though unpleasant solution to prevent your loved one from suffering this fate. Corpses were left above ground until putrefaction had reached such an advanced state they were beyond any use as an educational tool. These cages were padlocked over the coffins.