Summary

Former police station, built in 1842, probably to architectural designs by Thomas Hopper, extended with a fire engine shed and additional accommodation in the mid- and late nineteenth century; adapted as a community centre and altered around 2014.

Description

Former police station, built in 1842, probably to architectural designs by Thomas Hopper, extended with a fire engine shed and additional accommodation in the mid- and late C19; adapted as a community centre and altered around 2014.

MATERIALS: Slate roofs and red brick walls.

PLAN: L-plan former police station located at the corner of Stortford Road and Chequers Lane, set back from road; rectangular-plan former fire engine shed attached to north-west corner.

EXTERIOR: The former police station is two storeys in height and L-shaped on plan, facing north to Stortford Road. The front (north) elevation has a four-bay range to the west and steps back to a two-bay range on the east side; in the return of the two ranges, a single-storey red brick porch has a door on its east side. The roofs are generally hipped and slate covered, with a number of tall red brick chimneystacks. The main roof has a conical-roofed bellcote, probably installed in the mid-C19 when the fire engine shed was added. The walls are constructed of red brick in Flemish bond over a chamfered plinth. The window openings are camber-arched and generally contain six-over-six timber sash windows; the easternmost window on the ground floor of the four-bay range is blind. The east elevation has two window bays; the south window on the ground floor was adapted for a cell. A single-storey projection to the south appears to have been added around 1860 and has a flat-arched door opening on its north side, accessed by a ramp, and two flat-arched window openings to the east containing six-over-six timber sash windows with horns. The south end of the rear projection is single-storey in height and has two camber-arched window openings containing eight-over-eight timber sash windows; it was extended to the west before 1897 with additional living accommodation and a boiler room. The west side of the rear projection is two storeys in height and appears to have been built around 1860, having six-over-six sash windows with horns. To the left, a former arched doorway (opposite the internal cell) has been replaced by a window. The rear (south) elevation of the front range shows evidence of various stages of alteration.

The single-storey former fire engine shed, added to the north-west corner of the police station in the mid-C19, is rectangular on plan and has a pitched slate roof, red brick walls, and double half-glazed timber doors to the north gable to Stortford Road. An open porch was added to the east side of the former fire engine shed around 2014 when it was adapted for use as an entrance lobby and accessible WC.

INTERIOR: The main four-bay range formerly had two rooms on the ground floor; these became open plan when the building was used as a police station; the east side of the room was partitioned around 2011 to create a room and corridor to the east. A stair lift was introduced on the west wall around 2014, to the right of a blocked fireplace. The front windows retain vertical internal shutters. From the north-east corner of the ground floor, a straight stair with wall panelling leads west to the first-floor former magistrates’ court. At the top of the stairs a box on the north wall has a lever in the shape of a hand holding a scroll and operated a ventilation system. The former magistrates’ court was partitioned in the C20 to create a central corridor and interview rooms and offices. The former magistrates’ court retains two console brackets which supported a central arch. Off the west end of the former court, a former retiring room retains an Art Nouveau fireplace of around 1890 with a cast-iron grate and green glazed-tile surround; a cupboard with a pointed-arch door is fitted in the space left of the fireplace.

The two-bay range to the east contains two rooms at ground floor and first floor levels, each pair of rooms sharing a chimneystack (fireplaces blocked or removed). The south room on the ground floor, formerly a cell, retains its cell door and a large bench on the east wall under the window with ventilation underneath, probably added in the mid-C20. South of the cell, the former police station reception, added or extended around 1860, retains a picture rail and a block parquet floor, while a fireplace on the south wall has been blocked. North of the former reception, a room in the two-storey extension added around 1860, also retains a picture rail; it was subdivided around 2014 to create a corridor to the south. At the south end the two former domestic rooms in the single-storey rear extension were opened to create a single room around 2014. Outside the cell, a winder stair with turned newel posts, stick balusters and a closed string rises to the former domestic rooms on the first floor, now offices. South of the stair landing, the two-storey block added around 1860 contains a large room with a blocked fireplace on the south wall. A high proportion of internal doors were replaced by fire doors in 2024, with the exception of WCs which retain some four-panelled doors and moulded architraves. The former fire engine shed was adapted for use as an entrance lobby and accessible WC around 2014.

History

The former police station at Great Dunmow was probably designed by Thomas Hopper (1776-1856) and constructed in 1842 by Henry Hammond Hayward of Colchester (1784-1862). It was the first purpose-built police station in Essex. As County Surveyor from 1816 to 1856, Hopper designed Chelmsford Prison (1822-1828) and a number of police stations in Essex. The earliest stations at Great Dunmow, Castle Hedingham and Latchingdon (both 1843, also built by Hayward) were designed with an intentionally domestic appearance in case the new idea of a county police force failed and the buildings needed to find another use. Once it became apparent that the police service would stay, Hopper adopted a more distinctive Tudor Gothic style at Halstead (1851), followed by Thorpe-le-Soken (1853, listed Grade II) and others now demolished. Hopper also designed a number of country houses in Essex, including Danbury (1832), Easton Lodge, Little Easton (1847), Wivenhoe Park (1846-1853) and Birch Hall (1843-1848).

Great Dunmow police station was constructed with a magistrates’ court at first floor level in which Petty Sessions were held for Dunmow Hundred on the first Monday of every month, and domestic accommodation for the Superintendent. A former fire engine shed was added to the north-west corner in the mid-C19 and appears on the 1875 Ordnance Survey (OS) map. The rear projection was extended to the east and west around 1860 and to the south-west by the time of the 1897 OS map; these mid- and late C19 extensions were probably designed by Henry Stock, who succeeded Hayward as County Surveyor from 1856 to 1900. The 1875 OS map shows a detached building against the south wall of the rear yard; this was probably a stable and was demolished around 1970. Comparison with historic photographs and maps shows a chimneystack was removed from the rear slope of the main roof in the C20 and boundary walls to the north and north-east were removed in the late C20. The building continued in use as a police station until 2008, after which it was adapted for use as a community centre and altered around 2014.

Reasons for Listing

The former police station at 45 Stortford Road, built in 1842 and adapted as a community centre around 2014, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* for its probable design by Thomas Hopper, a municipal architect of considerable accomplishment, who during his time as County Surveyor designed Chelmsford Prison (1822-1828) and a number of police stations in Essex including those at Great Dunmow (1842), Castle Hedingham and Latchingdon (both 1843), Halstead (1851), and Thorpe-le-Soken (1853, listed Grade II);
* for its considered and compact plan, which included a ground floor police station, first floor magistrates’ court, Superintendent accommodation, and a later, attached fire engine house;
* though the interior has seen some alteration in the C20 and early C21, it retains many features of note relating to its former use as a police station, including a former police cell, public and a private stairs, the archway over the former magistrates’ court, former magistrates’ retiring room, interior shutters to the ground floor windows, and some C19 fireplaces and doors.

Historic interest:
* as the first purpose-built police station in Essex and a good example of a mid-C19 police station with its magistrates' court and later fire engine house.

Group value:
* for its group value with nearby listed buildings on Stortford Road, including Nos 10, 12A, 12 and 47 Stortford Road (each listed at Grade II).

Recommended Books

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  Hampshire: Winchester and the North (The Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover
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  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
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