Town Lockup - Snaith, UK - Retired Prisons on Waymarking.com

An information board next to the lock up has the following information.

SNAITH TOWN LOCK UP
AN 18th CENTURY GRADE II LISTED BUILDING

The Snaith lock-up is a modest single storey building, comprising of three rooms. Built of brick with a clay pantile roof, it has stone door and window frames.
The windows are unglazed and have iron grilles. It is situated in the centre of town, in Buttermarket, adjoining the east wall of the churchyard.

It is now all that remains of a much longer building. A small shop and Buttermarket building abutted the south wall of the lock-up and the old fire-engine shed abutted its north wall. Both of these were demolished many years ago,

Documentary evidence has yet to be discovered about the occupants of the lock-up so we can only speculate as to how and by whom it was used,

The lock-up's proximity to the church suggests that it could have been used to house prisoners found guilty of misdemeanours in the ecclesiastical courts, although monetary fines and ecommunication were often used as punishment.

Another theory is that as the building is situated in Buttermarket, it would have been used for people found guilty by the Piepowder Court, the special court convened on market and fair days to deal with crimes such as selling shoddy goods, giving short measure and selling watered down ale.

However, it is most probable that it was used by the parish constable as a very short-stay prison for the drunks, vagrants and beggars who came to Snaith on market and fair days.

Rumour has it that the cell windows had one single bar originally and people took advantage of this to pass jugs of ale to the prisoners.
To thwart this practise grills were installed but ingenuity soon conquered this intervention as people then not only brought the jugs of beer, but also long church-warden clay pipes. The pipe bowl was placed in the beer and the stem passed through the grill to the prisoner who then proceeded to drink the ale through a 'straw'!

Although there are over 100 surviving lock-ups in the country, there are very few that are free standing like this one. The majority are incorporated into existing buildings being basements or ground floors to schools or private houses etc. and therefore not always accessible to the public. The other free standing ones we know of such as one at Holme-upon-Spalding Moor are very different in appearance from Snaith lock-up.

The Snaith & District Heritage Society was formed in 1988 to prevent the demolition of the lock-up. It has since been handed over to Snaith & Cowick Town Council who are responsible for the conservation of this historic building.

www.snaithandcowicktowncouncil.co.uk

Although the lock up is on a public road and always accessible it is not open and the interior cannot be visited.

Address: Town Lock-up Buttermarket Snaith, Yorkshire United Kingdom Open to the public: Yes Hours: Any Time Fees?: None Web link: [Web Link]

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