Our Heritage

In 2012, the Triangle was granted Grade II listed status and we thought we’d share a part of the listing text with you. This information is taken from the Historic England record.

The triangular-shaped former animal pound - a compound where stray stock was kept until its owner paid a release fine to the lord of the manor - is clearly marked 'Pound' on the 1877 First Edition 25 inch Ordnance Survey sheet. Deeds to this land indicate it was used as a horse watering station in the late C19, probably by the military. In the late C19 the land was purchased by the owners of Rockdean (Grade II) situated to the west across St Leonard's Road.
By the 1898 and subsequent editions of the Ordnance Survey maps the structure is no longer labelled as a pound. The land was offered to the local council in 1928 for the erection of a public convenience and urinal but the new owner of Rockdean took out a covenant on the land on 4 June 1928 to prevent the erection of the public convenience and purchased the land from his fellow executors for £150. In the 1950s the north end of the north-east side was taken down to improve the turning circle for a coach company called Newmans.
In 1966 Rockdean and this parcel of land was purchased by Major Worts and a covenant was placed on the land to prevent it being used as a drying ground and to prevent the erection of drying posts. Subsequently the missing section of wall was replaced in C20 brick and the area is currently planted.