Lockup, Childwall road, Liverpool, Merseyside

This lockup dates from 1796. It is built from stone, octagonal in shape, with a pyramid shaped slate roof. It has a weather-vane added by Sir James Picton. It has a number of square blind windows. The one above the entrance has a small upper part open with diagonal iron bars. Lockups like this were common and were used to hold petty criminals, drunks and people waiting for the judge to come and send them for trial. 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.

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