Village lock-up

Historic building once used for the temporary detention of people

A village lock up is a historic building once used for the temporary detention of people in England and Wales, mostly where official prisons or criminal courts were beyond easy walking distance. Lockups 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. The archetypal form comprises a small room with a single door and a narrow slit window, grating or holes. Most lock ups feature a tiled or stone built dome or spire as a roof and are built from brick, stone and/or timber. Such a room was built in many shapes; many are round, which gives rise to a sub description: the punishment or village round house (rheinws, rowndws). Village lock ups, though usually freestanding, were often attached to walls, tall pillar/tower village crosses or incorporated into other buildings. Varying in architectural strength and ornamentation, they were all built to perform the same function.

They have acquired local nicknames and descriptions including blind house, bone house, bridewell, village cage, punishment cage, jug, kitty, lobby, guard house, round house/roundhouse, tower and watch house.

The rooms fell out of use when the County Police Act 1839 was introduced and more stations were built with their own holding facilities. The Act allowed justices of the peace to set up a paid police force in each county and made it compulsory for that force to be provided with proper police stations and secure cells. The village lock up became a redundant edifice as a result and only a small fraction have survived. During World War II many were used by the Home Guard as sentry posts and arms stores. In recent decades many owners have repaired these structures and/or seen nomination as listed buildings; a presumption of acceptance applies to buildings earlier than 1840. Some are local heritage attractions; others are in a ruinous state; others have been converted into parts of homes, yards or gardens. A register of these structures, including those which have been lost, is held by the Village Lock up Association.

The crest of Everton Football Club features Everton Lock Up which still stands on Everton Brow, Liverpool. D. H. Lawrence and his German born wife Frieda had to report to the lock up in Wirksworth during the First World War when they lived at Middleton by Wirksworth. In 1281 an analogous building (the Tun) was erected in Cornhill, central London – a two storey barrel shaped design with a single cell on each floor.