This is the second event in a series to highlight some of the pinfolds that are found within Derbyshire, with this one taking us to another well-preserved example near the centre of the village of Hope.
Pinfold is derived from the Saxon Old English pundfald meaning an enclosure & the term was used largely in the north & east of the country. These enclosures were used specifically to house stray cattle or sheep which had wandered from their owners' land or which had been found grazing on common land without common rights. These would be rounded up & kept in the pinfold until they were claimed. To retrieve the animals, a fine would have to be paid to the pinder, who was an officer of the Lord of the Manor. It was a serious offence to break your animals out of the pinfold, punishable by a further fine or imprisonment! Occasionally the pinfold might be rented as a temporary holding pen overnight by drovers on their way to market. Although they date from much earlier, it is thought that by the 16th century, almost every settlement would have had its own pinfold & pinder. Sadly, most of these have been lost over the years, but some survive almost intact whilst others have been restored.
Hope pinfold is found on Pindale Road, named for the pinfold. It is positioned only 100m or so south of St. Peter's Church. There should be ample parking in the village, but it does get busy in fine weather. I have provided a parking waypoint, although there should also be street parking available. Please park considerately & do not drive to the event as there is no roadside parking on the narrow lanes.
This short event will give us an opportunity to meet up safely outside for some geochat & to swap trackables in hopefully peaceful & beautiful surroundings. There are lots of caches in the area if you haven't visited before, so you may wish to plan a walk after the event. There may even be a new cache published for the occasion...