Image ID: 18312

The Pinfold, Screveton

Courtesy of Reg Baker

Screveton
England

The name pinfold started out as the Old English 'pundfald', made up from two words very similar in meaning: a pound and a fold. Pinfolds are also known as pounds and are purpose-built enclosures where stray animals used to be kept until reclaimed by their owners, upon payment of a fee to the pinner (or pinder) who was responsible for rounding up any strays. One of the rules of a Shepherds' Society was 'That all pinders possessing books of sheep marks, if any sheep shall come into their hands belonging to any members of this society, shall inform them of, or take them to their respective owners, who shall pay them reasonably for their trouble.' Many villages had a pinfold. Some have either disappeared completely, or had sections of their walls incorporated into other boundaries, but many have been restored such as the one at Flintham (see NCCE000774)

Date: 1978

Category: Farm

Organisation Reference: NCCS001365

Organisation: