19th Century Prison History : 19th Century Prison Search

Princetown Old Police Station

Overview

Location   Tavistock Road  Princetown

County   Devon

Year Opened   1857

Year Closed   1958

Century of Operation   1800-1899, 1900-1999

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.

ExteriorPhoto © Derek Harper (cc-by-sa/2.0)

Further information can be found at
https://www.prisonhistory.org/lockup/princetown-old-police-station/

Description

  • '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/)

Sources

  • David Worth, 'Old Princetown: Tavistock Road'
    https://oldprincetown.weebly.com/tavistock-road.html
  • Simon Dell, The Beat on Western Dartmoor (Forest Publishing, 1997), p. 36