• Home
    • Introduction
    • Copyright
    • Conclusion
    • Future Task
    • Blog
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  • Strategies
    • Manchester’s New Corporation and Watch Committee
    • Operational Needs
    • Architectural Design
    • Domestication
    • Rationalisation 1898
    • Civic Pride and Cleansing the City
  • Police Estate
    • Introduction: Police Estate
    • Manchester's first expansion 1838/9
    • Sir Charles Shaw and the Watch Committee 1839-1845
    • Operational Replacements from 1846
    • Strategic Requirements 1860 - 1885
    • Manchester's Second Expansion 1885
    • Manchester's Third Expansion 1890
    • Rationalisation of the Police Estate 1898
  • Police Personnel
    • Introduction: Police Personnel
    • A Policeman's Lot 1872.
    • A Policeman's Lot 1885-1901
    • Police Matrons
    • Jerome Caminada
  • Police Stations [38] & Maps
    • 1838/9 Map 1 [11 PS] >
      • Manchester Town Hall Police Office King Street.
      • Deansgate Police Station and lock-up Knott Mill
      • Ridgefield Station House off John Dalton Street – City
      • Swan St Police Lock-up - New Cross
      • Oldham Road Police Station - New Cross
      • Kirby St - Ancoats
      • Cavendish St Town Hall - Chorlton on Medlock.
      • Great Jackson St (Park Place) Town Hall Hulme.
      • Hanover St jct Edward St Smithfield Market
      • London Rd/ Brook St, - Piccadilly.
      • Allum St, Ancoats
    • 1839-1845 Map 2 [2 PS] >
      • Fairfield Street Police Station - Ardwick
      • Moss Lane Station House - Hulme
    • 1846-1859 Map Fig 3 [4 PS] >
      • Harpurhey Village
      • Cheetham Hill PS Temple
      • Grove St/ Bury New Rd Broughton
      • Livesey Street PS. New Cross
    • 1860-1884 Map Fig 4 [6 PS] >
      • Albert Street PS - City
      • Goulden St PS - Collyhurst
      • New Town Hall Lever St
      • Willert St PS Collyhurst
      • Fairfield St (East) Ardwick
      • Newton St PS - City
    • 1885-1889 Map 5 [4 PS] >
      • Brook St P.S. Bradford
      • Monmouth St P.S. Rusholme
      • Cannel Street P.S. Ancoats
      • Derby St P.S. Stangeways
    • 1890-1897 Map 6,7,8 [9 PS] >
      • 1890 Map 7 [7 PS] >
        • Moston Lane P.S. Harpurhey
        • Clarendon Rd P.S. Crumpsall
        • Newton Health P.S. Oldham Road
        • Openshaw P.S. Ashton Old Road
        • South St P.S. - Longsight
        • Lowe St P.S. Miles Platting
        • Belle Vue St P.S. Gorton
      • 1891-1897 Map 8 [2] >
        • Bridgewater St P.S. (Southside) 1892/7
        • Bridgewater St P.S. (Northside) 1897
    • 1898-1903 Maps 9, 10 [2 PS] >
      • Mill St P.S. Beswick
      • Whitworth St P.S. in London Road Fire Station
  • Statistics
    • Table 1 Manchester Police Stations and Buildings 1794 - 1906
    • Table 2 Expenditure Police Stations & Lock-up Houses 1852 – 1879
    • Table 3 Manchester Police Establishment and Offences 1858-1901
    • Table 4 Prisoners at Manchester Police Stations 1897 - 1898.
    • Table 5 Manchester Population, Rates, Police 1839-1901
    • Table 6 Manchester Crime and Census Statistics 1881 - 1901
    • Table 7 Manchester Rateable Values 1839 -1901.
    • Table 8 Report into Manchester Extension 1890
    • Table 9 Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham Police 1892
  • Bibliography
    • Bibliography
    • Primary Sources
    • Secondary Sources
    • Other Bibliographies
Victorian Police Stations
Station Name or Keyword Search

Introduction: Development of the Police Estate.

The following sections of the Police Estate topic have been selected to cover specific periods of the development of the police in Victorian Manchester. Each section covers a short but distinct period. As already indicated the overarching period of 1838-1901 saw a dramatic change in the utilities and equipment available to the Victorian police officer.

The early borough police officers, newly transformed from Watchmen, had only the basic equipment of truncheons, rattles (rick), handcuffs (snaps), lanterns, brawn and common sense to assist them. Their station houses were mainly basic lock-ups with little or no sanitation, suffering from poor ventilation lighting and heating. The WC minutes when annotated and arranged for each station reveal the slow modernisation of the buildings, until their eventual replacement (if achieved prior to 1901). 

By the end of the century the spread of gas lighting, clean piped water and heating substantially improved police buildings and officer accommodations. The installation of the telegraph and the telephone were later important changes. The introduction of operational mechanised transport during the twentieth century coupled with the new communication methods would permit in time a change to the tactical and operational needs of the police.

By the 1890s the longer serving police officer would have seen many changes in technology. Their personal equipment to meet the four essential policing constants of light, communication, protection and restraint, did change but retained the same basic ability as at the start of the Victorian period - an improved bulls eye lantern by 1860 for light, by 1870 recognisable head gear rather than the top hat for protection, coupled with a more recognisable and serviceable uniform and by the late 1870's a whistle instead of the rattle for communication. For restraint the ‘snaps’ design of handcuffs remained until the 1970s. However, the police officers’ greatest asset remained their common sense and experience, and this increased in the last quarter of the century with the increased professionalisation of the force.

Pathé Manchester Police
Picture
The attached film clip [button below] from the British Pathé News site  shows detectives throwing a prisoner into the above cells. Afterwards he is taken from the cells in a horse drawn cart with police protection to Strangeways Gaol. The clip recorded @ 1910 is significant as it shows the basic cell corridor with gas mantles and the extent of the security protecting the station. It is considered that the film was made utilising a local inner Manchester station. 


Recent research has excluded the Town Hall even though the Detective Branch was based at the there along with good cells. This leaves Albert Street, Goulden Street Police Stations or possibly Minshull Street Police Court as this would be logical for sentenced prisoners going direct to gaol. However Court cell pictures [see Matrons] do not match the above view.  However if you know otherwise please let me know.
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