| THE COURT HOUSE |
| The Lord of the Manor was, of course, the great man in all
the affairs of the district. His manorial court or "Court-leet" as it was commonly
called, was held three times a year. Notice was given in writing, probably affixed
to the Church door, of the holding of these courts. The Chief Steward or his Deputy
presided over the proceedings in the Court House, which stood near the Cross. The
Steward called a jury together, and their powers were greater than those of present
day magistrates, yet their verdicts were often lenient, and consisted of fines, the
Pillory, or the Stocks, and occasionally the Cat-o-nine-tails. The Court-leet also
elected Manorial Constables for the various townships, and the duties of these
officers were to see that all the affairs of the townships were properly managed.
The Constables appointed officials such as :-Market-workers, Appraisers of Distress,
House-lookers, Overseers of Brooks and Rivers, Overseers of Weights and Measures,
Pound-keeper, Impounders of Highways, Fencelookers, and Ale-testers. Do you know what
a "Pound" was, and why it should have a Keeper ? It was an enclosure of land, well
fenced and with a securely-fastened gate, tlm key of which was held by the keeper.
All animals found straying or lost on the highway or on private property were taken
and impounded in the enclosure, until released by their owners on payment of a fine
varying according to the value of the animal. The last Pound about Bury appears to
have been somewhere near to the Moor-gate in the immediate vicinity of the Blue Bell Hotel.
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| The Sun-dial, Pillory, and Stocks were also in the Market Place,
a little distance from the Cross, and nearly opposite to the gates of the Church, and
up to 1800 the two latter were frequently used to punish lawbreakers. How often these
unfortunate miscreants were jeered at, taunted by, and became the butt and targets of
mischievous youths, can easily be conceived.
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| The Pillory and Stocks were swept away at the same time as the Cross.
The Dungeon was the public prison of the town - a dark, dismal, damp, old stone building,
erected near to the churchyard. Access to it was along a low dirty covered passage leading
from out the Wylde. It was altogether unfit to be used, even for a short time, as the
abiding place of a human being. So close to the churchyard was it, that persons walking
therein, could hear plainly the oaths and imprecations of those who were temporarily
residing in that wretched place. This dungeon was probably destroyed when the old church
was taken down in 1776-1780, and another one established in Bedlam Green, near Clough
Street, as the Deputy Constable's headquarters were then at the Waggon and Horses, at
the corner of Clough and Clerke Streets.
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