Former City Police Headquarters

A new home for the City Police

The medieval Leicester Guildhall was the first home of the Leicester Borough Police in 1836, then a force of 50 officers, followed in 1875 by the Town Hall. It wasn´t until 1933 that the City Police got new purpose built headquarters on the corner of Charles Street and St. Gerorges Way. The building was designed by G. Noel Hill and A.T. Gooseman of Leicester City Architects' Department.

A modern building for a modern police force

The gates in the middle led into the main drill yard. To the right of the archway was the public enquiry office, with the charge office and cell block at the rear. Two cottages at the back were converted into a garage and gymnasium.

In the 1930s new equipment was purchased enabling fingerprinting to be done on the premises and a teleprinter connected Leicester to Nottingham where Morse code signals could be sent to wireless receivers in police cars across the region. In 1936 a new switchboard was added and more than 42 lines connected police boxes and telephone posts across the city to Police HQ.

The Traffic Warden Unit, established in 1962, Leicestershire Record Office

The first traffic wardens

To deal with increasing problems caused by parked cars in the city, a traffic wardens unit was established and in April 1961 the new team took to the streets of Leicester. This was the first use of traffic wardens outside of London and the scheme was soon adopted across the country.

The station closed in 2004 when the force moved to its current headquarters at Enderby. The building now houses offices.