Bow Street Police Station

Books – London’s police stations, past and present…

by exploringlondon

London Police Stations
Eileen Sanderson
Amberley Publishing, Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK, 2021
ISBN – 978 1 3981 0016 9

Since the opening of the first purpose-built police station in Bow Street in 1831, police stations have grown to become a familiar feature in high streets across London.

But policing in the capital is in a state of flux with stations closing and resources consolidated. Thankfully comes Eileen Sanderson’s London Police Stations with the aim of capturing what is mainly a “pictorial record of these buildings as they exist now while these changes are occurring”.

Divided into six chapters – the first presenting a potted history of the Metropolitan Police Service and each thereafter covering a different geographical area of London, London Police Stations captures the diverse range of architectural styles that police stations are created in – from the late 19th century grandeur of stations like Kentish Town to more modern office blocks like that of Paddington Green.

It’s also filled with fascinating tidbits of police history. We learn about the small police station that was once located inside the top of Marble Arch overlooking Hyde Park (and another at the top of Wellington Arch on the other side of the park), that the original lamp from the now closed Vine Street Police Station hangs outside the modern Holborn Police Station, and how the lion-shaped brass doorknockers, stolen from Rotherhithe Police Station in 1881, turned up in 1952 following a death bed confession in which a man admitted that he had taken them as a drunken dare and had kept them hidden ever since.

A fascinating insight into the evolution of policing in London, London Police Stations will appeal to anyone interested in digging a little deeper into the fabric of London and its policing history.

LondonLife – The Bow Street Police Museum opens its doors…

by exploringlondon
The Bow Street Magistrates’ Court in 2006, the year of its closure. PICTURE: Edward (public domain)

The Bow Street Police Museum, located on the site of the 1881 Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and Police Station, has opened its doors in Covent Garden. The museum tells the story of the early Bow Street Runners, the first official law enforcement service in the city, and the Metropolitan Police officers who came after. Visitors can explore the former cells and hear the stories of those who once worked in the building. The connections between Bow Street and the constabulary dates back to 1740 when Thomas de Veil opened a Magistrates’ Court in his family home at number four Bow Street in the 18th century and continued until the closure of the Bow Street Magistrates’ Court in 2006. Among the famous faces who passed through Bow Street’s police station and court over that time were Oscar Wilde, Suffragettes Sylvia Pankhurst, Christabel Pankhurst and Mrs Drummond, and the Kray twins. For more, head to https://bowstreetpolicemuseum.org.uk.