Alternative Names Campbell Street Bridewell
Nation England
County Lancashire
Location 1 Campbell Square, Argyle Street Liverpool
Map location exact or closely approximate
Year opened Approx 1864
Year closed 1930s
Century of Operation 1800-1899, 1900-1999
Building Type Police Station
Remarks The Argyll Street Bridewell was originally built around 1864. The Bridewell covered the marine area of Liverpool the haunts of prostitutes thieves and vagabonds.
'In 1905 the Head Constables report to the Watch Committee regarding the state of repair to police stations and Bridewells in the City is described as follows: "Argyle Street, Bridewell and Fire Station. Cost land, old Corporation Estate, building £2675 (it does not say when it was built). A Very old-fashioned place, but short of rebuilding there are only some minor points in which improvements might be made. The cells (7 in number with a monthly average of 107 prisoners) have been refloored recently with asphalt. There's no bathroom in the Bridewell Sergeants house."'
Shaun R. Rothwell, 'Argyle Street Bridewell - Liverpool City Police' (http://liverpoolcitypolice.co.uk/argyle-street-bridewell/4564426432)
'Police Station. c1850. Brick with stone dressings, slate roof.2 storeys and 3 bays. Stone plinth, 1st floor sill course, top frieze and cornice: Centre bay projects and forms base of short tower. Ground floor windows have stone lintels and all windows are sashed with glazing bars. Entrance on return of centre bay has rusticated architrave with lion's head to keystone, stone plaque above. '
Historic England, National Heritage List for England, 'The Old Bridewell... Argyle Street', LEN 1068393
Description: Entrance, close up. In this picture, the old bridewell was being used as a restaurant
Photo by: Photo © John S Turner (cc-by-sa/2.0)
Is there something you’d like to tell us about this lock-up which doesn’t fit easily into the categories of information above? Perhaps you have a good story about someone who was confined in the lock up. Would you like to start a conversation about the lock-up with others who are also interested in either lock-ups or local history? Or would you like to tell us how you have used the data on this lock-up? Please leave a reply!
Alternatively, if you would like to correct or add to the data in the record, please follow this link. Or, click here if you like to find out more about contributing to this project.