Nation England
County Devon
Location Tavistock Road Princetown
Map location exact or closely approximate
Year opened 1857
Year closed 1958
Century of Operation 1800-1899, 1900-1999
Building Type Police Station
Remarks Opened in the year following the establishment of the Devon Constabulary (1856). The last occupant was PC Charlie Battershall. Replaced by a new police station in the village in 1958. Converted into a cafe and little remains of the station other than the name of the building.
'To the right of the current entrance and porch there is a window and another door. The sill and the lintel of this window contain a row of six regular and matching holes which are suggestive of the former presence of bars and its use as a cell aperture. The holes in the window sill have been largely plugged with cement over the years, but one remains clear of obstruction. The clearest hole looks triangular in section, possibly for ease of cutting, not because the cell bars were triangular. The holes in the lintel are much easier to spot. (See images in the gallery). This building has another point of historical interest: set into the pavement in front of the building are some granite cobbles, presumably to mark the legal boundary of the property. No other building in the village has the same delineation. It is not clear whether this dates back to the time when the station was in use, or was the result of a later legal dispute.'
Comments of David Worth, Princetown local historian (and developer of https://oldprincetown.weebly.com/)
Photo © Derek Harper (cc-by-sa/2.0)
(c) With kind permission of David Worth
(c) David Worth, with kind permission
(c) David Worth, with kind permission
(c) David Worth, with kind permission
(c) David Worth, with kind permissionDescription: Postcard, undated, featuring a sepia photograph of members of the Devon Constabulary standing outside the Old Police Station.
Photo by: (c) With kind permission of David Worth
Description: Probable cell window to the right of the door, and to the left of the current main entrance to the cafe
Photo by: (c) David Worth, with kind permission
Description: Sil of probable cell window, showing six holes likely used for bars. Filled with concrete at various times, but one remains clearly visible.
Photo by: (c) David Worth, with kind permission
Description: Close-up of the hole in the window sil. It is triangular in shape - not because the cell-window bars were triangular, but because the shape was easier to cut into the stone.
Photo by: (c) David Worth, with kind permission
Description: The lintel of the probable cell window. The holes for the bars are much more clearly visible here, than in the sil.
Photo by: (c) David Worth, with kind permission
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