Dunnabridge Pound, Dartmoor

Set beside the road across the moor from Ashburton to Tavistock not far from Dartmeet you can find an old pound or enclosure called Dunnabridge Pound.
As in the case of many old Dartmoor walls, it is believed to have been built over the site of an ancient bronze age one. These pounds were used to detain cattle found straying on the moor and as a holding pen for the drift

Just inside the entrance to the pound you will find this structure they call the Judges Chair. The pound is believed to have been first recorded in around the 1300's.

The origin of this structure has many versions. That at one time there were stocks here seem to be supported by written evidence but the one I like is that the large stone at the back of the shelter came from Crockern Tor where back in the 12th cent the Tor was used as the Parliament of the Devon tin miners. It is said, that this large slab of granite was used as the table, around which they used to sit.

The history of the Tinners and the Stannary towns is well documented and not so unlike us today, it is all about the of the collecting of taxes to pay for various wars etc etc.

This structure was certainly been used by the pound keeper, as shelter on wet Dartmoor nights which thankfully I didn't need today