Winchester, statute of

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Winchester, statute of, 1285. Edward I's reign saw a determination to enforce law and order. After complaining that local people were reluctant to do justice to strangers, the statute (13 Edw. I) declared that each district or hundred would be held responsible for unsolved crimes. Highways were to be widened and cleared of shrubbery in which robbers might lurk. Each man was to keep arms to take part in the hue and cry when necessary.

J. A. Cannon