THERE’S a small piece of land in our village with no apparent perform. I’m hopeless at guessing measurements nevertheless it’s most likely about 30 yards by ten, surrounded by a wall with a gate. That is it from the street:
Inside there may be nothing however grass and a tree.
It could be simply sufficiently big for a home however it could be very small and a really unusual form.
OK, I’ll inform you what it’s – a pinfold, because the signal on the wall says, or animal pound.
It’s an historical enclosure the place stray livestock had been stored till claimed by the proprietor, often on cost of a superb to the ‘pinder’, who was an officer of the Lord of the Manor.
The Sussex County Journal in 1930 mentioned:
‘Almost each village as soon as had its pound for stray cattle, pigs, geese, and so on. to be pushed into and there stored on the expense of the proprietor, until such time as he ought to pay the superb (the quantity claimed by the individual on whose land that they had strayed, for injury finished), and the charge to the pound keeper, man or generally lady, for feeding and watering the identical.
‘If not claimed in three weeks, the animals had been pushed to the closest market and bought, the proceeds going to the impounder and pound-keeper. An ingenious type of receipt was generally used. The one who discovered the animals on his land reduce a stick and made notches, one for each beast, after which cut up the stick down the centre of the notches in order that half every notch appeared on every stick; one half he stored, the opposite he gave to the pound-keeper.
‘When the proprietor got here to redeem his property and had paid for the injury finished, the impounder gave him his half stick. He took this to the pound-keeper, and if the 2 items tallied, it proved he had paid and his beast was freed. Therefore the phrase tally-stick and the pound-keeper being known as the tallyman.’
The earliest pinfolds date from medieval occasions however many of the remaining ones are from the 16th and 17th centuries. Fines had been usually 1d for a horse, 4d for a pig and second for 20 sheep. The partitions had been constructed excessive, not simply to stop the animals from escaping however to stop the homeowners from climbing over the wall and retrieving their animals, an offence which might lead to a jail sentence. The one in our village is taken care of by the parish council, however so far as I can inform it isn’t sure who owns it or if it could possibly be put to any use.
An fanatic named Nigel Mills has compiled a nationwide register of kilos and pinfolds, which may be discovered right here. It’s a superb piece of labor. Nigel remains to be accumulating entries (ours is one he has added after I made contact), so if you realize of 1 that isn’t on the checklist, do let him know. I’m so glad that there are people who do this sort of factor. Particulars of our historical past have to be preserved.
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WALKING by the Ribble this week I noticed a white fowl which at first I took to be a bit of egret – there may be typically one on the river, and I wrote about them right here. Then I realised it was a lot larger, and it had a yellow beak as an alternative of black. Wanting it up at dwelling I discovered that it was an excellent white egret (Ardea alba), which is similar dimension as a heron. Based on the British Belief for Ornithology it’s a scarce customer which has often bred in Britain, and the winter inhabitants is 72 (how can they make certain?) Anyway it’s a fairly uncommon fowl and I’ve been kicking myself all week that I didn’t take an image of it. Fortunately a buddy noticed it and did have the presence of thoughts to {photograph} it.
The portion of sheep within the background helps to point out its dimension.
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I SAW this butterfly this week and recognized it as a small copper (Lycaena phlaeas).
The books say it’s widespread and customary, however no butterflies are frequent spherical right here any extra. It’s on my fancy-leaf geranium ‘Pink Blissful Thought’, which has finished extraordinarily properly this summer time.
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Sheep of the week
THE Wiltshire Horn is uncommon amongst sheep as a result of it naturally sheds its coat (which is extra hair than wool) in spring, so it doesn’t want shearing. This is a bonus in an trade the place wool manufacturing has turn out to be uneconomic: labour prices are drastically lowered without having to collect the flock for shearing or dipping.
It’s a large sheep with rams weighing about 250lb and ewes 150lb. The coat is white with occasional black spots and each sexes have horns. The rams have spectacular spirals whereas the ewes’ variations are daintier. From the movies I’ve seen they’re friendlier than most sheep – I ponder if that’s as a result of they don’t get rounded up and frightened.
The breed was presumably launched by the Romans, and till the top of the 18th century was the predominant sort on the Wiltshire Downs with numbers estimated at 700,000. It declined in reputation within the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when there was a excessive demand for wool, and got here near extinction. Due to a small group of breeders who fashioned the Wiltshire Horn Sheep Society in 1923 it survived, however went into one other decline within the Nineteen Sixties. At this level it got here below the safety of the Uncommon Breeds Survival Belief. In 2000 there have been 300 breeding ewes however by 2019 the quantity was 4,898. The primary cause for its resurgence is the self-shedding attribute, nevertheless it additionally produces notably good meat.
The RBST studies that the Wiltshire Horn has different abilities. Their web site says: ‘In 2011, a flock of Wiltshire Horns had been borrowed by Community Rail to graze a railway slicing that was dwelling to wild orchids and different flora. The sheep had been used to clear the scrub with out harming different crops and left the orchids alone. They appear to be pure conservationists and land administration specialists too.’
Right here’s an excellent video of a ram duel. It appears to finish in a draw.
You may learn extra concerning the breed on the (very fascinating) Wiltshire Horn Sheep Society web site.
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Wheels of the week
THIS is a 1962 Ford Consul Traditional. It was launched in 1961 as a bigger model of the Anglia supposed to be ‘appropriate for the golf membership automotive park’, nevertheless it was overshadowed by the Cortina which got here out the next 12 months, and was produced solely till 1963, a shorter lifetime than the corporate supposed. There have been two-door and four-door variations, and a complete of 111,225 had been made. The fundamental styling got here from Ford’s HQ in Dearborn, Michigan.
When it was launched in 1961 it had a 1340 cc engine, and the one examined by Motor journal that 12 months had a prime pace of 78.4 mph, accelerated from 0-60 mph in 22.5 seconds and did 35.8 miles to the gallon. A two-door normal Traditional bought for £745 together with taxes (£11,681 now, based on the Financial institution of England inflation calculator). In 1962 the engine dimension was elevated to 1499cc.
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FINALLY, a reminder that reader Kathy Nel (‘linuslimmy’) is collating anecdotal proof about fowl and bug numbers, both will increase or decreases (and even static). Ship your feedback and observations to this handle: missingcritters@yahoo.com. In case you go away a remark beneath the road, we want a geographical location to have the ability to use it.
