Much of the original townscape of Newhaven has been destroyed in the past 60 years with only a few original structures remaining writes Gordon Young.

One almost insignificant building is the former police box at the end of the Fishmarket on Pier Place, a throwback to the pre-war years in the village.

It all began with the invention in 1878 of the telephone by Edinburgh-born Alexander Graham Bell. Police in America quickly adopted its use to help fight crime creating a number of signal posts using Morse around their major cities to improve communication within local forces.

As early as 1890, Glasgow devised the first police boxes in the UK made from reinforced concrete using telephony. However it was not until 1923 that the Metropolitan Police devised a cast-iron box of the type commonly associated with the Dr Who TV series.

By having a network of police boxes made for more efficient use of the front line personnel. No longer was time spent travelling to and from police station to the area of their beat to write reports or have their meal break. Communication was also greatly improved by having the telephones installed in each of these boxes and by giving public access to the phone. Emergency calls for fire or ambulance as well as reporting crime could be easily made when public call boxes were not available.

In 1933, Edinburgh’s City Architect, Ebenezer MacRae designed the unique police boxes that can still be seen around the city today. He wanted something that was more in character with the “Athens of the North” and would complement the city’s architecture. 142 boxes in total were produced, by Carron Iron Works in Falkirk, painted a dark blue and were sited throughout the city. Each gable features the city crest and Saltire patterned mouldings.

Inside each police box was a desk, tool, a small sink with running water, and a power point for an electric kettle. There was a foldable seat for miscreants to sit and wait until a police van, commonly called a “Black Maria”, could be summoned. A central light bulb and a small heater completed the interior equipment. Above the desk were a series of doocots, i.e. pigeon holes, which were essentially the beat constable’s filing cabinet. In these slots was kept various paperwork such as General Orders, Weekly Records, and other information, A keyholders book and Police Gazettes were also kept here. On the desk was always to be found the Beat Journal and the duty constable made an entry every time he left the box to patrol his beat. A telephone was positioned in the left corner of the desk.

Before the war, a blue light was sited on the police box roof. This could be activated from the area police station when required to attract the duty constable’s attention. The system was quickly dismantled after the War and switched off. However, with the outbreak of the Cold War in the 1950s, the looming threat of nuclear conflict forced the government to review its national civil defence policies. This included the sirens being reinstalled on the boxes to give citizens a “Four-Minute Warning” in the event of an attack.

So why, might you ask, would there be a police box sited outside the Fishmarket? By and large, the police on duty were regular to the area and were well known and respected by the community. They knew the police and the constables knew them. The police constable was one of three officials always present at the Fishmarket. Another was the Secretary of the Market Association who amongst other duties would keep a tally of the fishboxes that came and went into the Fishmarket using a token system. The third key-holder was the Harbourmaster who had an office in the market and would check on all non-LH registered boats using the harbour for which they had to pay dues. All LH registered boats paid their dues annually.

It was always the duty policeman who opened and closed the market gates and was responsible for ensuring that no unauthorised people attended the market or visited the boats docked along the pier on the market side.

Today, members of Newhaven Heritage staff the former police box on Saturday mornings to engage with members of the public and answer questions (or perhaps collect new information from older Newhaveners) and sell local souvenirs to help fund the charity.

In its way, the old harbourside police box continues to serve the public.

Gordon Young, Newhaven Heritage at newhavenheritage@gmail.com