Medieval pinfold.


A stone built, sub-rectangular enclosure. The north and south walls are broadly parallel, measuring 11 and 17m respectively. The east wall is 9m long, while the west wall, running alongside a stream which provided water for the animals, is 12m long.


The pinfold was in good condition and in use until the 1930s, with walls standing 2m high. Its upper walls subsequently became ruinous, but have since been repaired and capped with cement, though the slate lintel formerly across the opening has now been lost - presumably when the latter was widened.


Documentary records for the Rushen pinfold extend back to 1665. Each parish was responsible for the maintenance and repair of its own pinfold, but while their origins are uncertain, a statute of 1422 confirms that customary laws for the impounding of stray animals was already long established.


The site is owned by the Department of Infrastructure.