Image ID: 07654

The Pinfold, Syerston

Courtesy of H Brown

Moor Lane
Syerston
England

The Pinfold is 21ft in diameter, and the walls are built of brick, with the opening being without a gate. This picture was taken just after its restoration by Flintham Young Farmers Club. 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 this one here and the one at Flintham (see NCCE000774)

Date: 1988

Organisation Reference: NCCE001460

Organisation: