Ickwell Pound

Ickwell Green July 2007

A pound was an enclosed space in which straying animals were put (impounded) by the officials of the Manor to prevent their damaging property, including grass and crops. Their owners could redeem them by paying a fine to the manor. The Manor of Ickwell was owned by the Harvey family from 1680 until the abolition of manors in practically all but name in the 1920s

Bedfordshire Historical Record Society published a series of three volumes devoted to a survey of the county's ancient buildings in the 1930s. Volume III, published in 1936, included turnpike roads and toll gates, duck decoys and pounds. The section on pounds was writen by J. Steele Elliott. He noted:"The older generation can remember a wooden Pound that stood in the north-west corner of Ickwell Green, adjoining Moat Farm to the south. The enclosure has since been planted with trees, and forms part of the Bury grounds. One old post that is on this site may be its last connecting link".