The Law Society in Britain has highlighted some unusual pieces of legislation which remain on the statute book.
Hanging washing in the street, beating a carpet and flying a kite are set out in the Town Police Clauses Act, 1847, (chapter 89, section 28) as punishable by a £1,000 fine.
It is also illegal to wear armour to Parliament (Royal Prerogative 1279)
Fire a cannon close to a dwelling house (Met Police Act 1839)
Bet or gamble in the library reading room (Library Offences Act 1898)
Use any slide upon ice or snow (Town Police Clauses Act 1847)
Drive cattle through the streets of London (Metropolitan Streets Act 1867)
The Licensing Act 1872, says that being drunk in charge of a horse, cow or steam engine incurs a £200 fine and possibly jail for up to 51 weeks.
Some laws never came into effect. For example:-
The Easter Act 1928, which deemed that Easter Sunday should be fixed as the first Sunday after the second Saturday in April. But to enforce it would require agreement with Christian churches around the world.
Some laws have been reintroduced. For example:-
ou must, according to the Royal Prerogative passed in 1324, offer to the Crown any whales and sturgeon caught or washed up along the British coastline. In 2004, fisherman Robert Davies was investigated by police in Plymouth after selling a sturgeon caught in Swansea Bay. He had faxed the Master of the Royal Household and was told to keep the fish but was unaware it was still illegal to sell. He was not prosecuted and Stan the sturgeon ended up in the Natural History Museum.