St John's Chapel, Hay 3
From chapel to lock-up !
St John's Chapel seems to have deteriorated into a ruin in later years until it was rebuilt as a town "Lock-up" early in the 19th century. A contemporary report in the Brecon County Times contained the quote that "It had originally been the Church of St John .... In the year 1810 Mr Henry Wellington who was a kind of king in Hay and did exactly as he liked got posession of the belfry and transformed it into a lock-up".
Quarter Sessions
Epiphany 1812
Powys
County Archives
B/QS/O/6
entries from the early
records of the
Quarter Sessions
can be seen on our
Crime and Punishment
and Care of the Poor
pages on this site.
The above entry from the Breconshire Quarter Sessions Order
Book of 1812 reads as follows:
"Lock up House, Hay.
Ordered that it be referred to Henry Wellington of Hay Castle
Esq to Contract for the building of a Lock up house in the Town
of Hay at a sum not Exceeding one hundred and fifty one Pounds".
It served as a lock-up until 1875, when a new police station was built on another site in the town.
There are 4 pages on St John's Chapel. Use the box links below to view the other pages.
