The Lock Up
East Street, Lacock, SN15 2LF
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1022162
- Date first listed:
- 20-Dec-1960
- List Entry Name:
- The Lock Up
- Statutory Address:
- East Street, Lacock, SN15 2LF
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2001-05-20
- Reference:
- IOE01/03673/26
- Rights:
- © Mr Jeffery Bartlett. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1022162
- Date first listed:
- 20-Dec-1960
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 02-Dec-2016
- List Entry Name:
- The Lock Up
- Statutory Address 1:
- East Street, Lacock, SN15 2LF
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- East Street, Lacock, SN15 2LF
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Wiltshire (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- Lacock
- National Grid Reference:
- ST9164568471
Summary
A late C18 village lock up.
Reasons for Designation
The Lock Up, East Street, Lacock, which is thought to date from the late C18, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: as an interesting example of a village lock up, with pleasing detailing;
* Degree of survival: despite some repairs, the lock up survives mostly intact;
* Historic interest: as a reminder of early methods of maintaining law and order in rural areas;
* Group value: with the adjacent tithe barn (Grade I) are other listed buildings.
History
Lock-ups or blind houses (so called for their dim interiors) are small buildings built as temporary holding places for offenders being brought before the local magistrate, and also for the incarceration of drunkards, vagrants and people disturbing the peace. They were often built by the parish or a wealthy local resident. The earliest recorded examples date from the C13, and most fell out of use in the mid-C19 when they were made redundant by the formation of a regular police service.
This lock-up in Lacock is thought to date from the late C18.
Details
A late C18 village lock-up.
MATERIALS AND PLAN: built of ashlar stone and is square on plan.
DESCRIPTION: a small, square building with coursed ashlar walls with low plinth and band at band at cornice level, and a domed ashlar roof surmounted by a ball finial. There are two buttresses to the north, and to the west the lock-up is joined to the adjacent tithe barn by a wall with a timber door giving access to the lock-up.
The door, with iron studs and thick straps with decorative ends, opens into a small flagged yard, which is roofed with an iron grille. The studded door into the lock-up itself is in a chamfered surround, and inside is a lavatory and modern timber bed. The lock-up is window-less but has a high ventilation hole.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 315512
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Wiltshire, (1999), p. 289
Websites
Wiltshire and Swindon Historic Environment Record no. MW14809, accessed 19.09.16 from http://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/artsheritageandlibraries/museumhistoryheritage/wiltshireandswindonhistoricenvironmentrecord/wshermap.htm?a=d&id=16287
Pastscape no. 21260, accessed 19.09.16 from https://pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=212160&sort=4&search=all&criteria=lacock%20barn&rational=q&recordsperpage=10
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 24-Jun-2026 at 06:54:37.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.