A village lock-up is a historic building once used for the temporary detention of people in England and Wales, mostly where official prisons or criminal courts were beyond easy walking distance. Lockups were often used for the confinement of drunks, who were usually released the next day, or to hold people being brought before the local magistrate. The archetypal form comprises a small room with a single door and a narrow slit window, grating or holes. Most lock-ups feature a tiled or stone-built dome or spire as a roof and are built from brick, stone and/or timber.
Such a room was built in many shapes; many are round, which gives rise to a sub-description: the punishment or village round-house (Welsh: rheinws, rowndws).[1][2] Village lock-ups, though usually freestanding, were often attached to walls, tall pillar/tower village crosses or incorporated into other buildings. Varying in architectural strength and ornamentation, they were all built to perform the same function.
Nicknames and forms
They have acquired local nicknames and descriptions including blind-house, bone-house, bridewell, village cage, punishment cage, jug, kitty, lobby, guard-house, round-house/roundhouse, tower and watch-house.
Rise of the village lock-up
Lock-up in Hilperton, Wiltshire
The majority of surviving village lock-ups date from the 18th and 19th centuries when rural communities struggled to police thefts, burglaries, shootings, drunkenness, the obstruction of watchmen and the stealing of livestock. During this period a number of lock-ups were built, by official decree, as a temporary place of detention for local rogues and miscreants until they could be removed to a town. For example, in 1790 the Derbyshire court of quarter sessions issued an order that required that "all parishes in the county where there is not already a Round House, House of correction, or Gaol, shall provide a place of temporary confinement for the reception of vagrants, paupers, felons and the like".[3] Over time they became synonymous with drunkenness and many references to this coupling can be found in famous works of literature, including Barnaby Rudge (1841) by Charles Dickens, and The Water-Babies (1863) by Charles Kingsley, which contains the line:
An 1830 description of a lock-up in Taunton describes "... a hole into which drunken and bleeding men were thrust and allowed to remain until the following day when the constable with his staff of office take the poor, crippled and dirty wretches before a magistrate, followed by half the boys and idle fellows of the town".[5]
Some lock-ups also had stocks, ducking stools, pillories, or pinfolds, alongside them and the origins of the 18th-century village lock-up evolved from much earlier examples of holding cells and devices.
The rooms fell out of use when the County Police Act 1839 was introduced and more stations were built with their own holding facilities. The Act allowed justices of the peace to set up a paid police force in each county and made it compulsory for that force to be provided with proper police stations and secure cells. The village lock-up became a redundant edifice as a result and only a small fraction have survived.
In recent decades many owners have repaired these structures and/or seen nomination as listed buildings; a presumption of acceptance applies to buildings earlier than 1840. Some are local heritage attractions; others are in a ruinous state; others have been converted into parts of homes, yards or gardens.
A register of these structures, including those which have been lost, is held by the Village Lock-up Association.
D. H. Lawrence and his German-born wife Frieda had to report to the lock-up in Wirksworth during the First World War when they lived at Middleton-by-Wirksworth.
In 1281 an analogous building (the Tun) was erected in Cornhill, central London – a two-storey barrel shaped design with a single cell on each floor.[7]
Stocks are feet restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation. The use of stocks is seen as early as Ancient Greece, where they are described as being in use in Solon's law code. The law describing its use is cited by the orator Lysias: "'He shall have his foot confined in the stocks for five days, if the court shall make such addition to the sentence.' The 'stocks' there mentioned, Theomnestus, are what we now call 'confinement in the wood'".
Wirksworth is a market town in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. Its population of 4,904 in the 2021 census was estimated at 5,220 in 2023. Wirksworth contains the source of the River Ecclesbourne. The town was granted a market charter by Edward I in 1306 and still holds a market on Tuesdays in the Memorial Gardens. The parish church of St Mary's is thought to date from 653. The town developed as a centre for lead mining and stone quarrying. Many lead mines were owned by the Gell family of nearby Hopton Hall.
Lingfield is a village and civil parish in the Tandridge district of Surrey, England, approximately 23 miles (37 km) south of London. Several buildings date from the Tudor period and the timber-frame medieval church is Grade I listed. The stone cage or old gaol, constructed in 1773, was last used in 1882 to hold a poacher.
The history of Derbyshire can be traced back to human settlement since the last Ice Age, over 10,000 years ago. The county of Derbyshire in England dates back to the 11th century.
Deeping St James is a large village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was reported as 7,051 at the 2011 census.
Swarkestone is a village and civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 187.
Farndon is a civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester, England. It contains 19 buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as designated listed buildings. One of these is listed at Grade I, the highest grade, three at the middle grade, Grade II*, and the rest at the lowest grade, Grade II. Apart from the village of Farndon, the parish is rural. The listed buildings include houses in the village, the church and tombs in the churchyard, the ancient bridge crossing the River Dee, the former village lock-up, and a memorial.
Canewdon is a village and civil parish in the Rochford district of Essex, England. The village is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of the town of Rochford, while the parish extends for several miles on the southern side of the River Crouch.
Everton Lock-Up, sometimes referenced by one of its nicknames such as Prince Rupert's Tower or Prince Rupert's Castle is a village lock-up located on Everton Brow in Everton, Liverpool. The 18th-century structure is one of two Georgian lock-ups that still survive in Liverpool; the other is in Wavertree. It is famous for being the centre-piece of the crest of Everton F.C.
Midford Castle is a folly castle in the village of Midford, and the parish of Southstoke 3 miles (5 km) south of Bath, Somerset, England.
HM Prison Portland is a male Adult/Young Offenders Institution in the village of The Grove on the Isle of Portland, in Dorset, England. It is operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. The prison was originally opened in 1848 as an adult convict establishment, before becoming a Borstal in 1921, and a YOI in 1988. In 2011 it became an Adult/Young Offenders establishment.
Swarkestone Hall Pavilion, also known as Swarkestone Stand and The Grandstand, is a 17th-century pavilion 200 metres north of the ruins of Swarkestone Hall, Swarkestone, Derbyshire. It is a Grade I listed building south of Chellaston on the A514.
Shrewton is a village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, around 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Amesbury and 14 miles (23 km) north of Salisbury. It lies on the A360 road between Stonehenge and Tilshead. It is close to the source of the River Till, which flows south to Stapleford.
Inglesham is a small village and civil parish in the Borough of Swindon, Wiltshire, England, notable for the Grade-I listed St John the Baptist Church. The village is just off the A361 road about 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west of Lechlade in Gloucestershire. Most of the population lives in the hamlet of Upper Inglesham, which is on the main road about 1.3 miles (2 km) south of the village.
This is a list of scheduled monuments in the district of South Derbyshire in the English county of Derbyshire.
Middleton-by-Wirksworth is a civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. The parish contains six listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. All the listed buildings are designated at Grade II, the lowest of the three grades, which is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest". The parish contains the village of Middleton-by-Wirksworth and the surrounding area, and the listed buildings consist of houses, cottages and associated structures, a milestone and a church.
The lock-up in Smisby, Derbyshire, England, is a village lock-up dating from the late 18th century. Such lock-ups were fairly common in England at that time and were used to hold miscreants, often drunkards, or other low-level offenders awaiting transportation to the local assizes, for short periods of time. The Smisby lock-up is built of brick and is a Grade II* listed building.
Swarkestone is a civil parish in the South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. The parish contains 19 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, three are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the village of Swarkestone and the surrounding area. The Trent and Mersey Canal passes through the northern part of the parish, and the listed buildings associated with it are bridges, a lock, mileposts, and a former toll house with an outbuilding. The other listed buildings include houses and associated structures, farmhouses and farm buildings, a church and a cross in the churchyard, a public house and its former stable block, and former reading rooms.
Wirksworth is a civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England. The parish contains 107 listed buildings that are recorded in the National Heritage List for England. Of these, one is listed at Grade I, the highest of the three grades, nine are at Grade II*, the middle grade, and the others are at Grade II, the lowest grade. The parish contains the market town of Wirksworth and the surrounding countryside. Most of the listed buildings are houses and associated structures, shops, farmhouses and farm buildings. The other listed buildings include a church and associated structures, public houses, a cotton spinning mill and associated structures, mileposts and milestones, a cemetery chapel, a railway bridge, groups of bollards, schools, a former engine house, a war memorial and a telephone kiosk.
↑ Page, William, ed. (1908). "Parishes: Barton in the Clay". A History of the County of Bedford. Vol.2. London: Victoria County History. pp.308–313. Retrieved 4 March 2020– via British History Online. There is an ancient round-house or lock-up, a red-brick building with a lead roof, but it has not been used for some years.
↑ Historic England. "The Lock Up, Harrold(Grade II) (1159459)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 March 2020. Round limestone rubble, wooden lintel to door, very tall conical stone roof and small ball finial.
↑ Historic England. "Cross Base and Lock-Up [Winsford](Grade II) (1310425)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 12 March 2020. Very square pyramid resembling an oversized modern war memorial base, nine plain stone courses, stone cross on top.
↑ Fison, Vanessa (2009). The Matchless Vale: the story of Ham and Petersham and their people. Ham and Petersham Association. pp.104–105. ISBN978-0-9563244-0-5.
↑ Historic England. "Hunmanby (1168000)". National Heritage List for England. Two entrances, one per cell.
↑ Historic England. "Lockup at Workhouse Farm (1376869)". National Heritage List for England. (No longer worked by the poor, latterly by those of the local poor law union of parishes.)
↑ Historic England. "Wath upon Dearne (1314579)". National Heritage List for England. Constable's cell above with fireplace, both with latrines/later toilets, enhanced window above today and door with diamond window.
Further reading
Plumridge, Andrew. The National Directory of Village Lock-Ups, Stocks, Pillories, Gallows, Gibbets, Pounds and Pinfolds, and Other Pre-Police Force Punishment and Detention Devices.
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