THE OLD POLICE STATION

by Ann Harvey

Rye Borough Police Force came into being in 1838. The Police Station was in a small cottage adjacent to the Ypres tower. The force consisted of two men, a Superintendent and a Police Constable. The Ypres Tower had three cells and a mortuary.

The Sussex bonfire tradition , as in Lewes, had been getting seriously out of hand by the early 1880’s. “One bonfire night two rival bonfire gangs attacked the Rye police, badly wounding Superintendent Butcher; Constable Bowine tripped in the fight and badly injured his ankle, lightened tar barrels were rolled down the narrow cobbled streets, boats were set on fire, and citizens attempting to save their property were flung into the harbour.” 1

“In 1884 a determined an attempt was made to stamp out the influence of the bonfire gangs. Twenty five special Constables were sworn in to assist the Force (which still consisted of one superintendent and one constable) and magistrates were prepared to impose heavy penalties. A cache of tar barrels had been discovered and removed by the police. This exasperated the gangs and they attempted to take a boat from the shipyard of Messrs. Smith. They were fought off by Superintendent Bowine and Police Constable Henley with a force of Specials. Bowine received several blows ( he was certified unfit permanently in 1891 aged 46), Constable Henley’s helmet was also battered in. Six of the gang were apprehended and bound over for the sum of £10 and a surety of £5 to keep the peace for twelve months. This seemed to have the desired effect, and bonfire violence decreased and gradually died out.” 1

The 1888 Local Government Act was passed by Parliament required the Borough Police to amalgamate with the County Constabulary. It was decided to build a new Police Station in Church Square, with a lock up. This was finished in 1891.

What is now 16 Church Square was a private house built in the 18th century and was sold, by a Mrs Skinner, to the Police in 1890. It became the Sergeant’s house with a connecting door to the Police Station.

The new Police Station had a charge room at the front of the house, the front door opened into a lobby and the cell block was directly after that, with a locked door from the lobby, the charge room opened from the right of the lobby. Behind the charge room was a room for the Constable’s kitchen and a sitting room, access to the staircase and the three brick domed cells. The Constable’s family lived upstairs. Beyond the back of the Sergeant’s house was a small exercise yard and the access to the garden which ran to the edge of the cliff (South Undercliff is below.)

Councillor Frank Palmer’s mother was a Miss Muggridge whose father was the Constable at Rye from 1910 to 1914/15 when he was moved to Winchelsea. Mrs Palmer wrote a delightful little pamphlet called “Childhood Memories of Rye and Winchelsea from 1910 to 1918” (6) from which I quote:-

“There was a lovely garden with pear trees, the pears were very sweet.” [Two pear trees and two of the original apple trees, presumably planted in 1891, are still bearing fruit.]

Continuing to quote from Mrs Palmer’s memories:-

“The Police Station end of Church Square in those days (1910/1911) was very rough, mostly with fisher folk in Hucksteps Row. At weekends they had terrible rows as the men were usually drunk and the police used to go down to settle a few fights......The cells had somebody in most weekends crashing and banging about (a bit frightening for us kids!)

Next door to our house was ‘The Jolly Sailor’. It had been a 4d. doss house but was closed down by the police and afterwards became a private house. (6)

Mrs Palmer also wrote that “the Sergeant in 1910 was a Scot, Sgt. Sinclair. He and his wife had about 10 children, several with bright ginger hair.” How so many people could fit into that house is a mystery.

In ‘Rye’s War 1939 - 1945‘ (2), edited by Josephine kirkham and published by the Museum, the last chapter is the ‘Recollections of Mr Moppett, Police Constable.’ He came to Rye in 1939 and he says he was the last person to live in the Police Station before it was bombed in 1940. I can find no record of bomb damage although there well may have been blast damage from the bombs that destroyed the buildings where the present Rectory and its adjacent two houses now stand, next to the Ypres Tower and which blew out the East Window of St. Mary’s Church. Mr Moppett’s account of his duties and experiences during World War II is very interesting

Over the years the size of the Police Force increased, the old Police Station was closed in 1966 and the present larger Police Station was built in Cinque Ports Street.

A Mr Stanynough bought the old Police Station but did little to it except getting planning permission to build a bungalow in the garden. Mercifully this never happened, nor did he live in the now private house. In the early 1970’s he sold it to an architect, R.W. Gray 5, who wanted it for his retirement years. He redesigned the interior, got rid of the lock-up ( which must have been very expensive) and turned the house into two pleasant flats, one downstairs and one upstairs. The house could easily be returned to a family house if necessary.

© Ann Harvey

REFERENCES

1. Sussex Police Forces - a pictorial history from 1836 to 1986 published by middleton Press. July 1987

2. Rye’s War 1939 to 1945 - The Second World War in Rye Published by the Rye Museum Association. March 2002 Edited by Josephine C. Kirkham.

3. Rye’s Own No 150. January 2007. Article by Frank Palmer - Rye Borough Police.

4. Aerial Photographs - pre and post W.W.II by Aero Films Ltd.

5. Papers from R.W.Gray Esq, and Burnhams, Rye.

6. Childhood Memories of Rye and Winchelsea 1910 - 1918 [ Mrs Palmer Sr. whose father, Constable Muggridge was in Rye 1910 -1914/15 and then in Winchelsea till 1918.]