Summary

A late C18 village lock up.

Description

A late C18 village lock-up.

MATERIALS AND PLAN: built of ashlar stone and is square on plan.

DESCRIPTION: a small, square building with coursed ashlar walls with low plinth and band at band at cornice level, and a domed ashlar roof surmounted by a ball finial. There are two buttresses to the north, and to the west the lock-up is joined to the adjacent tithe barn by a wall with a timber door giving access to the lock-up.

The door, with iron studs and thick straps with decorative ends, opens into a small flagged yard, which is roofed with an iron grille. The studded door into the lock-up itself is in a chamfered surround, and inside is a lavatory and modern timber bed. The lock-up is window-less but has a high ventilation hole.

History

Lock-ups or blind houses (so called for their dim interiors) are small buildings built as temporary holding places for offenders being brought before the local magistrate, and also for the incarceration of drunkards, vagrants and people disturbing the peace. They were often built by the parish or a wealthy local resident. The earliest recorded examples date from the C13, and most fell out of use in the mid-C19 when they were made redundant by the formation of a regular police service.

This lock-up in Lacock is thought to date from the late C18.

Reasons for Listing

The Lock Up, East Street, Lacock, which is thought to date from the late C18, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as an interesting example of a village lock up, with pleasing detailing;
* Degree of survival: despite some repairs, the lock up survives mostly intact;
* Historic interest: as a reminder of early methods of maintaining law and order in rural areas;
* Group value: with the adjacent tithe barn (Grade I) are other listed buildings.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26273028

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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