PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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The practice of "Beating the Bounds" is a very ancient one. In the days before the written word and maps, the only way in which landowners could record the extent of their property was by boundary markers and it was important that succeeding generations knew where those boundaries were. Some were engraved stones but in other cases the boundary might be a hedge, a stream or a road. In Plymouth this meant that each year the chief officers of the Borough were taken on a tour of the boundary. This event is still maintained today by members of the Old Plymouth Society, although in this modern era of digital mapping it is of less importance. On Friday October 8th 1886, the Mayor of Plymouth, Mr W H Alger, led the party and the account which follows appeared in the Western Daily Mercury the next morning. Devonport did not Beat the Bounds as frequently as Plymouth, it would seem, but they made a special effort in 1899 following the extension of the Borough to include part of the Tithing of Weston Peverel. It was not without its incident, as the following report from the Western Morning News relates.
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