Tuesday 2 July 2013

SURREY Lock-ups at Charlwood, Ewell, Lingfield, Petersham and Reigate.


I have five lock-ups to report on in Surrey.
 
 


 The lock-up at Charlwood is situated at 1 Rosemary Lane, RH6 0DG and dates to c1792.
Known as The Cage it had two cells.
Fully restored, it is now a PRIVATE storeroom.
 
PLEASE RESPECT PRIVATE PROPERTY.
 
 
 
 

CHARLWOOD

OS Grid Reference: TQ2430641102
OS Grid Coordinates: 524306, 141102
Latitude/Longitude: 51.1557, -0.2239

 Photo's by Roy Pledger.
 
 
It was Grade 11 listed 7.2.1972 (No.4340137) and described as :
 
Probably early C19. One storey built of local stone rubble with red brick quoins
and galletting of small stone chips. Hipped tiled roof. Inside were 2 cells each
with a barred window to the outside. Simple doorcase with wooded lintel. This
building has been restored and turned into an office. (See Joan M Harding "Four
Centuries of Charlwood Houses" p 59).
Listing NGR: TQ2430641102
Source: English Heritage
Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence: PSI Click-use licence number C2008002006.
 
 
 
 
 
The lock-up had two cells, each with a ventilation grille.
 
 

Rosemary Lane
 
 
 
 
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The lock-up at Ewell is situated in Church Street, KT17 2AS and dates to c1770.
A plaque on the wall reads :
 
THE WATCH HOUSE
Built to hold prisoners and the village fire engine
by the Parish Vestry in c1770.
 
 

 
EWELL

OS Grid Reference: TQ2203062622
OS Grid Coordinates: 522030, 162622
Latitude/Longitude: 51.3496, -0.2491


Image's courtesy of  Surrey Libraries and  held in the Epsom and Ewell Local & Family History Centre .
Used with expressed permission

I am grateful to Peter Read from Epsom & Ewell Local Family History Centre for sending me these photographs and information.

 
"There is no early information about the Watch House (Lockup), which occupies the other compartment. Before it was built, Ewell miscreants would have been confined in the market house, which stood at the nearby crossroads until it was demolished around 1800.

It seems likely that the building was dual purpose from the beginning, as was the case in Epsom. (In Epsom there was a combined Fire Engine House and Lockup until 1848, when it was pulled down. The clock tower replaced it and, although it continued as the Fire Engine House, there was no longer any provision for confining prisoners.)

A story, probably apocryphal, tells of a prisoner who needed some good cheer. As the "cell" bars were too close together to pass a container through, his friends fed him cider through a clay pipe. Versions of this story have appeared in other parts of the country and seem to go well with the "olde worlde" ambience of Watch Houses.

The front wall is built of an unusually wide selection of rubble, which came from other demolished local buildings. The sides are timber-framed and weatherboarded and the roof is tiled. There is a view from 1825 which shows a turret and weather vane behind the Watch House. They may have been part of the building commissioned from Henry Kitchen in 1787, which seems to have been a much grander affair than the Watch House as we know it today.

In the nineteenth century, the building was given a stucco front squaring up the former triangular gable end, with the words 'Watch House' and 'Engine House' impressed in the stucco. This in turn was demolished in 1963 when the front was reconstructed in its present form (to make it look more historic), using stone from the Council Yard.

A map of 1802 appears to show the building extending further back than it appears now and the original contract refers to an upper storey. The map also shows a side passage to the left (when viewed from the front), which could have given access to rooms at the back. This would have made a more substantial replacement for the demolished market house than the building we now see - in fact it would have been a mini Ewell town".

 
 


 

 
 
It was Grade 11 listed  10.4.1954 (No.399394) and described as :
 
Probably C18/early C19. Hamnerdressed greensand mixed with brick, formerly
rendered. 1 storey. Full width blind segmental arch enclosing 2 doorways
with barred window between. Left hand door planked, strap hinges and
iron grille. Right hand door similar, no grille. Plain capped parapet
with central shaped panel.
The Watch House, Engine House, Church of St Michael, Hidden Cottage and
Nos 2 to 10 (even) form a group.
Listing NGR: TQ2203062622
Source: English Heritage
Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence: PSI Click-use licence number C2008002006.
 
 
 
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The lock-up at Lingfield, known as The Cage, is situated at the junction of Plaistow Road and Gun Pit Road, RH7 6AU at the rear of the 600 years old St Peter's Cross (AD1415), to which it was added in 1773. It was last used in 1882. The adjacent village pond is thought to have been created when sandstone was extracted for road material.
 
 

 
LINGFIELD

OS Grid Reference: TQ3859243570
OS Grid Coordinates: 538592, 143570
Latitude/Longitude: 51.1746, -0.0188

 
Photo by Ann Williams with expressed permission.
 
Once again I am grateful to Ann Williams for sending me this photograph. (http://www.adbwilliams.co.uk/photo_topic.php?subject_id=3)



 
St Peter's Cross is an old boundary marker.
 
Photo by RH7 Group with expressed permission.
 

It was Grade 11 listed 11.6.1958 (No.287434) and described as :
 
Cross with Village cage attached. Circa 1437 with cage added in 1773. Coursed
stone, hipped Horsham slab roof pyramidal over tower. Cell to north with square
stepped tower to south. Rectangular openings to each face of tower, flat plinth
to former cross on top. Inscribed panel detailing history of Cross and cage
on south face. Cell to north with planked door in north side, grilled opening
above to centre.
Former Village cage for locking up wrongdoers and last used in 1882; the Cross
and cage form an important focal point by the Village pond.
PEVSNER: - Buildings of England, Surrey (1971) p. 349
MANNING & BRAY:-- History of Surrey c1806 Vol.
VCH: - Vol. IV p.505
Listing NGR: TQ3859243570
Source: English Heritage
Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence: PSI Click-use licence number C2008002006.
 
 




Photo by Rosemary Bridger with expressed permission
 
I am grateful to Rosemary Bridger, Lingfield RH7 Group for sending me photographs and information.
 
 
 
 
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The lock-up and watchman's box at Petersham is situated next to The Fox and Duck pub at 194 Petersham Road, TW10 7AD and it dates to 1787.
 
 
 
 

 PETERSHAM

OS Grid Reference: TQ1804773148
OS Grid Coordinates: 518047, 173148
Latitude/Longitude: 51.4450, -0.3028

 
Photo  by Mathew Rees with implied permission.
 
I am grateful to Mathew Rees for the use of his photograph.

 
 

 www.hamandpetersham.com is the website of the Ham and Petersham Association :
 
"An interesting piece of local history is The Petersham lockup, that gives us a glimpse of village life in the late 18th century. Situated in the carpark of the Fox and Duck public house, the lockup was erected in 1787. It had a two fold purpose as the village watchman’s hut and also could be used to lock up any unsavory characters that might have come into the village. The space outside the hut was also used as a pound for stray cattle. The local watchman was also known as the Sergeant of the Night, on duty from 9.00pm to 3.00am, the watchman would be armed with a musket and pistol.
Most villages had a lockup but very few survive. It is thought that the Petersham lockup survived because the council had used it as a storeroom. It is not in its original position being moved back a few yards when the Fox and Duck was rebuilt in 1940. It was nearly demolished in 1955 as villagers thought that it had become too dilapidated. Luckily it was not. In recent times the lockup has become a grade 2 listed building and in 2007 was restored.
The small walled area in front of the lock-up was the corporation or old village pound. Here stray cattle were held until claimed by their owners. Originally the lock-up had opened directly onto the roadway with the pound behind it.
Parish Councils introduced lock-ups in the late eighteenth century to deal with the increase in vagrancy and drunkenness and nearly every village in the country had its own lock-up. Beggars and vagrants probably assembled on a Sunday to pester the gentry as they attended church.
The Parish constable or watchman would be elected each year at the annual vestry meeting of the Parish Council.
The building housed the watchman with his musket, bayonet, pair of pistols, cartridge box, three pounds of grapeshot, powder flask, lantern and his greatcoat to keep him warm throughout the long winter nights.
In 1787 the watchman was paid 11 shillings a week to guard the village from 9 o’clock at night to 3 o’clock in the morning. He had orders to ‘stop all strangers of a suspicious appearance found in the Parish, or conveying articles in carts or otherwise at unseasonable hours and not being able to give a good account of themselves’. Highwaymen were frequently active on the Petersham Road.
In 1821 a Richard Wigley of Ham was employed as a watchman. He attempted to stop a horse and cart driven by a Robert Knight of Richmond. Knight was engaged in smuggling spirits at the time. Wigley shot Knight in the head and he died shortly after. The affair excited a great deal of interest and was reported in the Times Newspaper. Wigley was committed for murder and the case was heard at the Surrey Assizes at Kingston. Wigley was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to six months imprisonment.
In 1940 the old timber constructed Fox and Duck public house, which probably dated from about 1700 was demolished. Originally it was called the “Horse and Groom” and served as a posting house on the London to Guildford stagecoach route. The public house was rebuilt further back from the road, in a mock Georgian style.
Fortunately the lock-up, still intact, was moved back to just in front of the building line of the archway of the Forge Garage. The pound area was moved from the back to the front area of the lock-up.
In 1955, the lock-up survived another reprieve. Some Petersham villagers felt that it should be demolished on account of its dilapidated state. Fortunately the Ancient Monuments Committee stepped in and decided that it was worth preserving. Surrey County Council agreed to repairs costing £40. Since that time the lock-up has received minor repairs. It is a listed building, Grade 2 and in 2004 thanks to the representations made by the Environment Trust for Richmond, the lock-up appeared on the English Heritage list of important buildings at risk (the BAR register)".

Ham and Petersham Association 2007
 
 
The lock-up was Grade 11 listed 25.6.1983 (No.205644) and described as :
 
Probably C18 or C19.
Tiny weatherboarded, single storeyed structure with hipped, slated roof.
Listing NGR: TQ1804773148
Source: English Heritage
Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence: PSI Click-use licence number C2008002006.

See also : www.petershamvillage.org/PV/Village_Lock-up .







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The former lock-up at Reigate is situated in Cage Yard, RH2  9AE
and is now part of a wine bar called The Cage.
 The building dates to the 18th century.



REIGATE

OS Grid Reference: TQ2522750205
OS Grid Coordinates: 525227, 150205
Latitude/Longitude: 51.2373, -0.2076


Photo by Ian Capper.










© Copyright Ian Capper and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

I am grateful to Ian Capper for the use of his photograph.


It was Grade 11 listed 31.3.1977 (No.289355) and described as :

C18 small 2-storey building of red brick with some grey headers, brick dentil
cornice. Fairly high pitched hipped slated roof with swept eaves. East and west
faces blank, and south face concealed by later workshop building. Modern garage
doors and window inserted in north face.
Listing NGR: TQ2522650207

This text is a legacy record and has not been updated since the building was originally listed. Details of the building may have changed in the intervening time. You should not rely on this listing as an accurate description of the building.

Source: English Heritage
Listed building text is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under licence.





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