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BUCKINGHAM OLD GAOL & MUSEUM
Image source unknown (sorry Officer!)
1892: The Police moved from the Old Gaol as Buckinghamshire County Council absorbed the Buckingham Borough Police Force.
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Historian Ed Grimsdale: Mr J. Tibbetts, a local builder, accepted the contract to build a new Police "Bucks County Council" Station on Moreton Road in January, 1892. He lowered the path along Moreton Rd to ease the carting of materials onto the tricky sloping site.
Bucks County Council encountered problems borrowing the £2,050 needed to pay for the work. The Council was told by the government - on the point of the papers being signed - that it was illegal to borrow the money from the Police Pension Fund.
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Prudential Assurance stepped into the breach. But its mortgage offer was half a per cent higher than the original financial plan, at 3.5% per annum. The site had cost £1650. We conclude that the building was completed within the year of 1892 since that date is carved in a stone arch head over its main public entrance.
In the 50th year of the station's creation, 1942, local builders Pollards erected a 35ft by 20ft wooden Police Social Clubroom including a full-sized billiards table for use by "Regular" and "Special" police officers, down ‘the slope’. The main station remained in use for 120 years until it was closed in 2012.
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Anthony Morton: there have been a number of posts on Facebook regarding the lack of a police presence in and around Buckingham. This reminded me of the 1950s -1960s when the 'old' Moreton Road Police Station was still in use. The right-hand side of the building was the Inspector's accommodation until it was absorbed into the 'nick'. There was also a detached house (now demolished) down the slope behind the Police Station which was occupied by one of Buckingham's two sergeants.
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Constables were housed in various locations in and around the town and these are the ones I remember - but there may be more:
In town: Addington Terrace (1), Western Avenue (1), Moreton Road (1), Bourtonville (2), Bourton Road (5), Westfields (1), Stowe Rise (1).
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Villages: Maids Moreton (1), Padbury (1), Tingewick (1), Westbury (1). The Police House at Whaddon may have been under the control of Buckingham.
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The officers patrolled using a mixture of cars, motorcycles, bicycles and regular foot patrols. There was always one bobby walking around the streets of the town right through the night. This represented a sufficient deterrent to prevent too much nefarious nocturnal activity, especially since the officer did not walk a regular route during his shift.
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Today I suspect that a good many of the town's residents would have trouble locating the Police Station, let alone find a policeman.