Did you know…the village pinfold
As part of my daily walk in my village I noticed a fenced off square by the pub.
Looking more closely I noticed a sign saying that it was the old village pinfold.
Enclosures like this were once known as pinfolds (or village pounds) — small stone pens used to keep stray animals until they were claimed.
If a sheep, cow, pig or goose wandered where it shouldn’t, it might be taken there and kept until its owner came to collect it, usually for a small fee.
This really was a thing.
And naturally, it led to problems.
There were disagreements over ownership. Occasionally, attempts to retrieve animals without paying. And, in some places, fines for interfering with the enclosure itself.
It was medieval small-town drama. Just with more mud. And more pigs.
