Mayfield Heritage Group present this April a fascinating talk on a crime that today is almost unheard of and yet in the past was a major issue for all residents of a rural area such as Mayfield – the despicable act of poaching especially at night! First made illegal in 1828 it still illegal to this very day by the same 194yr old law that could see you transported to Tasmania or get a prison term with hard labour for just taking a single rabbit .
Now it is fair to say that Mayfield rarely makes major news headlines but that wasn’t the case with poaching. Some 130 years Ago Mayfield was in the headlines for Night Poaching, clearly one of the great crimes of the 19th century! Once the scourge of rural landowners, gamekeeper’s and the rich and privileged, poaching was often seen by the poor in rural areas as their right to capture and eat animals on the land around them, land they walked, but land they did not own .
Although individually a small crime it could, on an organised scale, generate big income and consequently had some big penalties in court and there was massive pressure from government and the English justice system to capture and prosecute this most rural of crimes .
Mayfield Heritage Group take you into the very lives of the men involved and highlight a case heard at Ashbourne assizes where you will decide whether men from Mayfield are guilty or not! The talk takes place at 7:00 PM on the 29th of April at the Memorial Hall. Don’t miss it. Everyone is welcome and it’s your chance to discover and exciting part of Mayfield’s history that few know about until now.