Asfordby Street Police Station

Asfordby Street Police and Fire Station  

Asfordby Street Police and Fire Station in opened in 1899. It included a lamplighter’s room and fire engine parking. It also had houses, for the police sergeant and fireman. The police kept the peace and solved crimes, but some also had responsibility for the fire service and lighting the gas lamps. When it closed in September 2005, this was the last used Victorian police station in Leicester. The building is now used as a community centre.  

The fire station 1970; Malc Tovey

Arthur Wakerley, Leicester architect and Mayor 

72 Asfordby Street (the station)  was designed by Arthur Wakerley.  Born in 1862, he came to Leicester in his early twenties.  Just twelve years later, he was elected Mayor. He became a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and president of the Leicester Society of Architects.  Other buildings in Leicester designed by Wakerley include the Coronation Buildings on High Street and the Turkey Café on Granby Street. He died in 1931 and is buried in Welford Road cemetery. 

Aerial view of North Evington, from the North East, taken in 1927

North Evington, a self-contained suburb  

Wakerley wanted to create a self-contained suburb with places to work and good quality housing.  In the centre was a market square; a Victorian version of today’s shopping precinct.  It included a market hall with a coffee room, doctor’s surgery, shops, a barber and the police and fire station.  By 1914 there were 28 factories employing over 5,000 people in more than 30 trades. The market licence was withdrawn in 1947 and the square was redeveloped in 1982.