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Description
A number of 18th century, metal cock fighting spurs found by metal detector on the south side of Bridgend. Several more were found, suggesting it was the site of a fairground cock fighting pit. Each measures in the region of about 2 inches.
A cockfight is a blood sport between two cocks, or gamecocks, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years.
Cockfighting was banned outright in Wales and England in the British Overseas Territories with the Cruelty to Animals Act 1835. Sixty years later, in 1895, cockfighting was also banned in Scotland, where it had been relatively common in the 18th century.
A reconstructed cockpit from Denbigh in North Wales can be found at St Fagan's National History Museum in Cardiff.
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