DORSET ASSIZES IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 27 



Parsons Bridge in Pulham, Crickmore Bridge in the Hundred 

 of Cogdean, a bridge in Marnhull, and a footbridge at Wool, 

 all in the period 1637 to 1651. 



There are signs that the ancient system, already 

 obsolete, on which the county was divided for administrative 

 purposes, was found to be a hindrance to the proper per- 

 formance of police duties. The borough of Blandford ad- 

 joined and was intermixed with " divers habitations 

 called the Warnership of Pimperne," and when persons of 

 ill behaviour were hunted out of the borough they took 

 shelter in alehouses in the Warnership, and there defied 

 the constables in safety. An order in 1637 enacts that 

 the constables of Blandford shall be permitted to enter the 

 Warnership, and that borough and Warnership shall join 

 together in their watches and wards for His Majesty's 

 service. 



The duty of watch and ward is often emphasized. In 1646 

 any persons refusing this service were to be bound over to 

 appear at the next Assizes, and in 1651 it is noted that there 

 had been great neglect in this respect, and the number of 

 men usually so employed were to be doubled. Four years 

 later the Court speaks of " the manj^fold dangers and incon- 

 venience which doe dajdy happen in those places which lye 

 neere unto the sea coast, by reason of the multitude of idle 

 persons, who can give noe good account of theire beings, 

 makeinge that theire place of refuge." Constables are to see 

 that watch and ward are duly kept in such places, with a 

 view to all wandering persons being examined, and to report 

 their proceedings to the justices. 



Another duty imposed on all during some part of the cen- 

 tury was the observance of the last Wednesday in every 

 month as a day of solemn fast and humiliation. It is stated 

 in 1646 that the practice had fallen into disuse in many parts 

 of the country, and that the Lord's Day was often profaned. 

 Also the statute of the first year of Elizabeth's reign, enforcing 

 attendance at the parish church on Sundays and holidays, 

 was in 1640 often evaded, and constables were to present the 



