by Dave Roberts
Having perused the old Police Station
and its outbuilding (which may or may not have been a stable)
we turn our attention to its replacement, seen here under construction in late 1974. Bland and boring, and with none of the reassuring solidity of its Victorian predecessor, the new police station was built during a time in which a 'one size fits all' policy seemed to be in force. The police station in Nantwich, for example, is almost a carbon copy of this building. The station in Sandbach is of a slightly different design, but has one thing in common with the Middlewich station: it's never open (at Sandbach, there is a notice in the window boasting of the fact).
The buildings to be seen in the middle distance to the left of the picture are the Victoria Building and Civic Hall (now the Town Hall and accompanying Victoria Hall).
In 2015 the new Police Station, which never provided very much of a 'hands-on' service to the public, stood with its windows and doors completely obliterated by blue vinyls and notices informing people that it was not 'the Middlewich Police Custody Suite'.
That somewhat unpopular building is situated on the edge of town, on the Midpoint 18 estate. Why it was decided that a town with such a dreadful public transport service would be suitable for such a facility remains a mystery.
One beneficial by-product of the replacement of the old station with the new was the handy little footpath which runs from Queen Street, past the police station, to the Civic Hall car park and Market Field.
Originally published 26th June 2011
Updated and re-published 15th August 2015
by Dave Roberts
This was going to be an easy one - a quick fill in job designed to get just one more slide into the collection and preserved for posterity. I even had a title in mind: 'Old Police Station Stable' or something along those lines.But when I looked a little more closely, doubts began to form in my mind. Was this building a stable? It was certainly associated with and built at the same time as the old nineteenth century police station, which would be likely to have such a requirement at the time it was built. But where were the stable doors? If it is a stable block, the doors would have to be on the left hand side and, although it is not clear on this photo, there did not appear to be any access to that side of the building. Maybe there was once such access? The opening at the top of the building , with a beam to which a pulley would no doubt be affixed, suggests a hayloft, and the chimney to the right would indicate that some form of heating was provided but whether for horses, or people, or both, we can't know. The building was on the right of the police station main building, and at right angles to it, next to the garden of the beautiful house which still exists today and faces down Queen Street. Behind our old police building can be seen the bulk of the Queen Street United Reformed Church (or Congregational Church as it once was). The white flashing at the bottom of the slide is not snow, as it might at first appear, but damage to the original transparency, showing once more how urgent it is to get these slides preserved digitally as soon as possible. In among the flashing you can just discern a pile of sand, and other builders' accoutrements. The new police station was taking shape to the left , replacing the old. So, was this a stable? If not, what was it? I realise that even some seasoned Middlewich veterans may never have even see this Victorian edifice or even known of its existence.
