Pinfold on Heath Common
Village in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, noted for its ancient common and the number of "mansions" around it.
Wikimedia Commons
Village in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, noted for its ancient common and the number of "mansions" around it.Wikimedia Commons
A pinfold, or pound, was in medieval times an enclosure in the charge of a pinder, to which stray domestic animals, cattle, sheep, pigs and even geese were taken, where they were kept until their owners paid a fine for their release.[1][2]
The word pinfold is derived from the Old English pund, meaning a pound, and fald, a pen or enclosure. Pinfold is commonly used in the north, north-west and east of the country, and pound is common further south and south-west.[3]