Sign on The Old Village Lock Up or Gaol Cirencester
Village lock-ups are historic buildings that were used for the temporary detention of people in rural parts of England and Wales. They 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. A typical village lock-up is a small structure with a single door and a narrow slit window or opening. Most lock-ups feature a dome or spire shaped roof and are commonly built from brick, large stones or timber. The village lock-up can either be round or polygonal in plan and minor variations in design, materials and appearance do occur although they were all built to perform the same function. Village lock-ups have acquired a range of local nicknames including blind-house, bone-house, bridewell, cage, jug, kitty, lobby, guard-house, round-house, tower and watch-house.
Size: 5340px × 3704px
Location: Cirencester Wiltshire England UKEngland UK bridewell english clink prison jail lock-up lockup 'drunk
Photo credit: © Neil Setchfield / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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