Animal pound

A high-walled and lockable structure served several purposes; the most common use was to hold stray sheep, pigs and cattle until they were claimed by the owners,[citation needed] usually for the payment of a fine or levy.

[4] The Sussex County Magazine in 1930 stated: Nearly every village once had its pound for stray cattle, pigs, geese, etc.

to be driven into and there kept at the expense of the owner, till such time as he should pay the fine (the amount claimed by the person on whose land they had strayed, for damage done), and the fee to the pound keeper, man or sometimes woman, for feeding and watering the same.

If not claimed in three weeks, the animals were driven to the nearest market and sold, the proceeds going to the impounder and pound-keeper.

In Americans and Their Forests: a Historical Geography, author Michael Williams writes: "There was hardly a town in eighteenth-century New England without its town pound..."[5] In some mountainous areas of northern Spain (such as Cantabria or Asturias) some similar enclosures are traditionally used to protect beehives from bear attacks.