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Court-leet

Courtesy of John Trinder from Southampton Sotonians and Friends:
Below is a very interesting historical account of the ancient site of Cutthorn which stands at the northern end of the Southampton Common, just a little to the east of the Avenue at the Burgess Road junction. It is the site of the Court – Leet, an ancient law court.
This ancient site of Cutthorn stands at the northern end of the Southampton Common, just a little to the east of the Avenue at the Burgess Road junction. It is the site of the Court – Leet. Its origins go back to saxon times and it became prominent in the reign of Edward 1, and was held yearly. The Court – Leet was a law court making inquiries into criminal offenses such as burglary, arson, and even murder, but referred these cases to the Quarter Sessions or the Assizes. Less serious offenses could be punished by the court, such as brawling, tippling, card playing, petty theft and riot. Over the years it came to deal mostly with supervising the common fields and grazing. In 1670 the court moved to the more comfortable Guildhall. It now meets at the Civic Centre and provides a valuable opportunity for the citizens and groups of citizens of Southampton to make representations (called presentments) to the City Council, which might not normally come to its attention. Why, I wonder was this site at Cutthorn first chosen all those centuries ago? It had no shelter from the weather apart from any nearby trees. It was far outside of the old town, and the only means of getting there would have been to walk or travel on horseback along a route, which back then would have been no more than a rough track. Picture one shows how it was around 1910 and the other two as seen in 2021.