This is the only photograph of the pinfold known to exist. The view was taken in Main Street, c1927, looking towards the junction of Copmanthorpe Lane and Sim Balk Lane. The pinfold has a backdrop of beech trees and a finger post positioned in front. The long,low, roof of the Almshouses can be seen on the right.
"Yf thy horse breake his tedure ...
than cometh the pynder & taketh hym & putteth hym in the pynfolde" *
To take an animal that had strayed and lock it into a purpose-built pinfold or pound, was not meant to be an act of kindness to the owner. On the contrary, straying animals were a nuisance to the community; they trampled and consumed growing crops causing considerable damage. All beasts were the responsibility of their owners and impounded animals were released only on payment of a pain [a fine] to the Lord of the Manor who maintained the pinfold.
In the township of Bishopthorpe, the Lord of the Manor, the Archbishop of York, held the Court Leet, where the rules were made, the jurors presented minor offences and the pinder was appointed from the local householders. His duties were to secure the offending animals within the pinfold until the fines had been paid at the next court sitting.
Pinfolds were an essential adjunct to mediaeval open fields, and grazing was confined to the common or to whichever field was lying fallow. This situation changed drastically in the 18th century when common land in many townships was enclosed by acts of Parliament, mainly for the benefit of the larger land owners and tenants. Grazing land for poorer villagers became scarce and it can only be imagined what hardship this caused.
Of pigs and piggeries
The pinfold in Bishopthorpe consisted of a circular brick wall. It was about five feet high and twenty feet in diameter, with a small entrance facing south-east which was closed with a wooden gate. It was probably similar in style to the one that survives in Acaster Malbis and on the Tadcaster Road, near to the Racecourse. It is thought that the Acaster pinfold dates from the eighteenth century. The Bishopthorpe pinfold that once stood at the junction of Copmanthorpe Lane and the 'town street' (now known as Main Street) was likely to have been built at a similar time - possibly around 1757 when the local Enclosure Act was introduced. The former 'open' fields and commons surrounding the village were then enclosed by hedges which would have made it easier to keep out the animals.
However, keeping animals from wandering in the fields was only part of the problem; they were not allowed in town street (which remained hedge-less until c1828) or other lanes and highways. Almost every villager kept at least one pig in a piggery at the rear of his home and a neighbour's escaped pig, could have caused havoc. In 1811 the rules of the manor demanded that, "every person suffering their Pig or Pigs to go or run in the Townstreet shall pay for each offence: 3s 6d". A few months earlier, the pinder was kept busy when five local labourers were each fined 2s 6d [12½p] and another two, 3s 6d [17½p] each, for allowing the town street to become a playground for their pigs. This was at a time when a labourer's weekly wages were just a few shillings more than these sums.
A New Lease of Life
The pinfold was in use until the 1890s but, needless to say, it eventually became obsolete as a temporary pound for escaped animals. In 1901, the Parish Council agreed to take over responsibility for the pinfold from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, at a nominal charge of one shilling per annum. However, the question of what was to be done with the structure ran for the next sixty years. Initially local joiner Walter Johnson installed wooden seating inside the brick wall, the intention being to use it as a place for weary villagers to rest.
Several years later, when the West Yorkshire Road Car Co. ran a service from York to the village, the pinfold became a bus stop. The junction at Sim Balk Lane and Main Street used to be much narrower with the Almshouses positioned at the corner (see above). The pinfold was considered to be an obstruction to modern traffic and in 1933 was damaged by a bus. A couple of years later, the front part of the wall was removed. New benches were fixed inside but the semi-circular shape made it, in the words of one former resident: "… a draughty, but recognisable Bus Stop". The Parish Council tried for years to erect a bus shelter (i.e. with a roof) within the pinfold, but this did not meet with the approval of the West Riding County Council.
The Sim Balk Lane junction was once thought of as a pretty corner of the village with a group of "… lovely old beeches, which were later cut down in their prime". Apparently, the contractors laying the new sewerage scheme in 1949 were responsible for the trees "wanton" destruction, but this was remedied a few years later. As part of the village Coronation celebrations in June 1953, the Bishopthorpe Gardening Association planted six trees in the field behind the pinfold. A plaque commemorating the event was fixed to the pinfold wall and duly unveiled with a union flag by Lt.-Col. Tyndale of The Laurels.
The pinfold saw some hard times in the rebellious nineteen-sixties: Rockers with their motor bikes gathered there leaving litter; while the equally rebellious milk dealer, Cloughtons, stored crates of empty bottles on the site, leaving the Parish Clerk with a surfeit of heated correspondence to deal with.
The Final Blow
Eventually, through lack of funds and/or the lack of will, the semi-circular remains of the pinfold were demolished. The Parish Council of 1966 could not make up its mind whether it had a white elephant or a structure of historical importance. The pinfold had fallen into such a state of disrepair that, at first, it was decided to obtain three estimates in order to knock it down - and rebuild it. The estimates were put to one side while the Parish Clerk wrote to the Ministry of Works to ask if the pinfold could be scheduled as an Ancient Monument and, if not, could the department make a grant towards its upkeep. The Ministry's silence was deafening.
The Parish Council dithered for two years and, finally, following a discussion at the AGM of 1968, it was agreed that the pinfold was a "source of danger and an eyesore". The high cost of remedial work was prohibitive and therefore a deal was struck with Mr. Leslie Simpson, son of well-known local builder W. J. Simpson, to demolish the structure for £20.
Second Thoughts
As the years passed, the decision to demolish the pinfold continued to trouble some parishioners. It was thought that, with the loss of this site, a part of village history would be forgotten. As it was, the area had fallen into some state of disrepair and had become a dumping-ground for the County Council's winter salt. In 1987, the late Joyce Copeland, who was a member of the Parish Council at the time, raised the idea of commemorating the pinfold. Shepherd Homes, who were building the Appleton Court development, decided to carry out the project as a way of putting something back into the community. The company provided the materials and tiled the area the pinfold had once covered. A plinth was also constructed to hold two plaques - one being the rescued Coronation plaque - and the other to commemorate the pinfold and the restored area. This was donated by the Bishopthorpe branch of the Yorkshire Countrywomen's Association.
And now, a community decision has been made - and funding found - to rebuild the pinfold, relate the history of Bishopthorpe within its walls - and celebrate, among many things - the memory of pinders and pigs!
Linda Haywood
*John Fitzherbert, A newe tracte or treatyse moost profitable for all husbande men, 1523.
Sources
Bishopthorpe Manor Court Papers: Bp. Rev. IV
[The Borthwick Institute, University of York.]
Bishopthorpe Parish Council Minutes
Parliamentary Private Act, 1757:
An Act for establishing and Rendering effectual certain Articles of Agreement for the Dividing and Inclosing the common Fields, common Meadow Grounds, and Common or Waste, in the Township of Bishopthorpe, in the County of the City of York; and for other Purposes therein mentioned. [1757]
The memories of Joyce Copeland, Robin Hill, Barbara Sutcliffe, Kay Martin, Alan Dixon and Mary Wright.
The Parish Register of Bishopthorpe, 1631-1837, Elizabeth Brunskill (transcriber),
The Yorkshire Archaeological Society Parish Register Section, 1986.
Yorkshire Gazette: 5 June 1953, p4.
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