The Pound at Harley 1971 - 1998
More recent details of the events leading up to restoration project.

Our pound is acknowledged in Willmott Dobbie’s, Pounds or Pinfolds, and Lockups: beast and man in custody (1975). The entry reads:

“Harley – 2 miles NW of Much Wenlcok, off A458. GR 597014. Squarish, 5’ rubble walls. Entrance from road broken down. Repair urgent (1974).”

The act of listing made its reincarnation as a bus shelter more doubtful; investigations of the structure revealed that it would need much more careful archaeological preservation and reconstruction than was originally thought to be necessary. It seems that the project lost impetus, however, and no action was taken until 1997 when the interest of villagers was stimulated again as a result of the Harley Millennium Tree Project, part of a national campaign for Rural Action for the Environment.

In considering projects to celebrate the forthcoming millennium, the Village Hall Committee accepted a proposal to plant 2000 trees around the village. Attention was again drawn to the Village Pound as a focus for the tree project and, under the auspices of a small sub-committee, a grant was obtained and work began on the Pound in October 1998. The sycamore tree which had seeded itself and grown quite large within the Pound was cut down following advice from arborealists and permission from the local authority since Harley is a conservation area.

The ground was cleared and loose stone was removed and piled up for future use; and an archaeologist, Dr Nigel Baker, was retained to survey the site and produce a report. There was an exhibition and talk by Dr Baker in the Village Hall in November of 1998. Among other fascinating bits of information, he explained that the only really foolproof method of reassembling the dismantled stones was to tie labels around each stone with string! As part of this stage of renovation, the stone boundary wall of the field was cleared of ivy and found to be in good condition. The story with the Pound, though, was very different; the structural and archaeological investigation revealed big problems.

On the north-east wall, internally, grew an elder, the root and trunk embedded in the wall. The east wall had a significant outward lean, and the south wall had to be shored up to prevent it falling. It was clear that the extent of work to be undertaken was greater than the current resources would allow and it was decided to finish the first phase of surveying and clearing and then to pursue the project at a later date.

The following notes were made by Alan Howard of Domas Lane for the display and talk by Dr Nigel Baker at Harley Village Hall, 13 November, 1998, following the first phase of The Pound Restoration:

• The pound is believed to have been built in the 18th C, and, like similar village pounds, was used for the temporary enclosure of animals, mainly sheep and apparently, occasional cows, found wandering in the village.
  
  
• It is known that there was a small, gated entrance to the Pound accessed off the village road. Mary Brookshaw of Forge Farm said that she remembered a ‘picket-fence type of gate.’
  
  
• According to Tom Jones of Kenley Road, Harley, the Bedworth’s cow was placed in custody one day in the 1950s, he wasn’t sure of the date, but it escaped and was hit by a passing car and killed. The Bedworth’s lived ant Number 1 Harley, the cottage belonging to the blacksmith and next to his forge, historically.
  
  
• Soner (Sonny) Brasier told Peter James that the Pound was never used in his lifetime. This is approximately the last 85 years of the 20th Century.
  
  
• Cyril Hughes of Kenley Road told Alan Howard that he used regularly to drive sheep from Cressage and Harley through Easton Constantine to Wellington Market.

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