Crossroads and Characters

17. TRON SQUARE.

The heart of Dunning is in Tron Square. 'Tron' has several meanings: a weighing machine set up in a market for measuring merchandise; a village centre; and a place where public punishment was carried out. All these describe Dunning's historic Tron Square. It also had a surprising earlier function: centuries ago it was one of the original bleaching greens for home-made linen. Market activities took over. First wooden beam weighing devices were used and then a cast-iron steelyard was built on which loaded carts could be weighed (that steelyard is said to be there today, simply paved over). One Dunning adult recalling the good times of his youth remembered the market day early in the nineteenth century when a cartload of sweeties overturned in Tron Square, creating an opportunity for village children beyond their wildest dreams.