4. roundhouse

Disgrifiad

The Round House is a lock up that was used to house drunks overnight or people awaiting justice before a local magistrate. Little is actually known about this building but most of its kind are made of large stones or brick and timber. Almost all of the lock ups feature a single door and narrow slit windows or small openings and they also have either a dome or spire shaped roof. The Round House in Ruabon is within distance of 12 public houses and so might have had a lot of use. Most lock ups that are still standing today are from the 18th or 19th centaury. Some are incorporated onto the side of other buildings but this one is free standing. Most buildings of this sort were built in a time when rural communities were struggling with thefts, shootings, burglaries, drunkenness, the theft of livestock and the obstruction of watchmen. The building of these places was deemed necessary by the local magistrate and they very rarely had to hold people for more than a night or two because they were either let out or moved to a different town. Over time, however, these lock ups like the round house became associated with drunks. The Round house stopped being used when the County Police Act was introduced in 1839 and there were several local police stations built with their own lock ups inside them. The Act meant that there was a compulsory paid police force in each county who were equipped with proper police stations and more secure cells for holding people. The Round House is one of very few lock ups to have survived the time they were out of use. The round house may have been used a little since it was closed, in World War Two lots of lock ups were used by the home guard as sentry posts or places for storing weapons. There is no evidence of this but there is a possibility. The round house is situated on Bridge Street in Ruabon