History of First Police Station (HT)
Essex Police was founded in 1840, with 14 divisions that followed ancient boundaries of the Hundred. Rochford Division was established with headquarters in Rayleigh and constables stationed in Rochford and Great Wakering.
This building was purpose-built in1846 as the town’s first Police Station and served this function until 1919 when the new police station in South Street (built in 1914) was opened. This building in North Street is a sturdy Victorian red-brick building with a plastered front façade.
There were once two small cells in the cellar, the remains of which still exist. The windows of these were originally to be found at the base of the front wall and are visible in an old photograph of 1910. However the street level has since been raised, probably when the road was metalled, so they are no longer visible and they are now below the pavement. The ground floor had three sash windows with arches. The first floor had big windows above the left and right ground floor ones and a smaller one above the centre window. The entrance was round at the side.
When the police moved out, it became the Post Office. When they took over, the front of the building was modified by installing a door on the left-hand side and a big window covering the rest of the front of the ground floor. The front was later modified again and the door and window taken away. In the mid-2000s, the Post Office moved out and it became a convenience store. Once again the front was modified. Two small windows were placed in the front, either side of a new central door. Upstairs the central window was removed and the remaining two windows were made smaller.
On the corner of the building is an old ship’s cannon, dating from 1813. It was put here to act as a bollard to stop carts hitting the corner of the building as they turned into the adjacent lane, now known as Roche Close. You can still see the damage caused by these to the corner of the building before it was placed here. There was also originally a cannon in Old Ship Lane and one possibly in East Street too, but both of these are now gone. This surviving cannon is a Grade II Listed Building, so please treat it with respect!
