Lockup, Trowbridge, Wiltshire
This former lockup is dated to 1757. It is also sometimes called 'The Blind House', because it has no windows. It was damaged in riots 1826 and in 1942 by a bomb blast. It has since been restored. Lockups were part of the justice system operating on a local level. They were used for locking up petty criminals, people who were drunk or people waiting to go to court. They were often built as part of a complex including the village pound, stocks and pillory. They date back to around the 1560s. Generally the lockup was used by the parish constable who had the unpaid job of keeping law and order in his own parish.
