John Butler (architect)
John Butler (1828 – 1900) was a British architect who, for fourteen years, was the surveyor and chief architect for the Metropolitan Police in London. He was appointed in 1881 and held the role until his retirement in 1895. His designs were influenced by the Queen Anne architectural style, used by Richard Norman Shaw,[1] with whom he worked on the Scotland Yard between 1887 and 1890.
There was a boom in police stations during the 1880s following the political unrest of that decade and high-profile events such as the Whitechapel Murders.[2] Upon taking over the role of chief surveyor for the Metropolitan Police in 1881, Butler undertook a survey of the police estate. He replaced those buildings he found to be inadequate with new stations, and, in the case of Gerald Road Police Station, improved and extended existing structures.
Butler was the fourth architect to hold the role of chief surveyor since its inception in 1842.[a] He took over from Frederick Caiger, who'd held the role since 1868, and was succeeded by his son, John Dixon Butler, in 1895.
Known buildings
| Station | Image | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wandsworth Police Station | 1883 | Located at 146 High Street, Wandsworth. It is the oldest operational building in the Metropolitan Police's estate.[4] | |
| Bushey Police Station | 1883 | Located at 43 Sparrows Herne, Bushey. Internally the building had a charging office, a Court, three cells and two married quarters. The building was designated as a Grade II listed building in 1985.[5] The Metropolitan Police transferred control of Bushey to Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2000. The station closed in 2011 and was converted into flats.[6] | |
| Chiswick Police Station | 1884 | Located at 210, High Road, Chiswick. It was closed in 1963 and a new station was built opposite, designed by John Innes Elliott.[7] The old station became a public house in 1974 and is now called "The Hound".[8] | |
| Beckenham Police Station | 1885 | Located at 45 High Street, Beckenham. Closed in 2010; as of 2025, the building is being used as a spa and a restaurant.[9] | |
| Tottenham Police Station | 1885 | Located at St Ann's Road, Tottenham, junction with Hermitage Way. Closed in 2001[10] and developed into flats. The original facade remains.[11] | |
| Wanstead Police Station | 1886 | Located in Spratt Hall Road, Wanstead. Closed in 2013 and sold the following year. Developed into flats. The building remains and includes original features, including cells and Hayloft.[12] | |
| New Scotland Yard (North building) | 1887 | Butler assisted Richard Norman Shaw with the design of the north building between 1887 and 1890. An extension was added to the south in 1902, under the supervision of his son, John Dixon Butler, with Shaw as consultant. The police occupied both buildings before moving out in 1967 and into a building in nearby Broadway. The north and south buildings now form part of the parliamentary estate.[13] | |
| New Southgate Police Station | 1889 | Located at 138 High Road, Arnos Grove, New Southgate. In December 1960, for a period of six months, the station was one of a few London police stations to be equipped with a public telephone, direct to the police, to see if it could operate without the need for it to be open 24 hours a day. The experiment proved to be effective and by 1968 it was only used as office space. The station closed in 1990 and was redeveloped into flats. The building still exists, as of 2025.[14] | |
| Norwood Green Police Station | 1890 | Closed in 2008, sold in 2014 and redeveloped. The building no longer survives.[15] | |
| Wandsworth Common Police Station | 1890 | Located in Trinity Road, Wandsworth Common. It was merged with Earlsfield Police Station in 1974 and was designated as a police office rather than a police station.[4] It closed in 2011 and was sold in 2012. | |
| Leman Street Police Station | 1890 | Built in response to the Jack the Ripper murders in 1888, on a site previously occupied by the Garrick Theatre. The new station was built of red brick and had chromatically matching stone dressings. Inside there were offices, examination rooms, living quarters for married officers, and an adjoining cellblock. The station closed in December 1967 and was demolished to make way for the current, much larger police building (1970).[16] | |
| Chadwell Heath Police Station | 1892 | Closed as a police station in 1969. As of 2025 the building is now a Wetherspoons pub called "The Eva Hart", named after a survivor from the Sinking of the RMS Titanic.[17] | |
| Walthamstow Police Station | 1892 | Located at 360 Forest Road, Waltham Forest. Closed in 2011 and sold the following year.[18] As of 2025 the building still exists. Its use is unknown. | |
| New Malden Police Station | 1892 | Located at 184 High Street, New Malden. Closed as a police station in 1998, but remained in police ownership until at least 2004.[19] Now a public house called "The Watchman", operated by Wetherspoons.[20] | |
| Peckham Police Station | 1893 | The station is still operational, making it one of the oldest buildings within the Metropolitan Police estate. | |
| Blackwall River Police Station | 1894 | Located at Coldharbour, Tower Hamlets.[21] | |
| Bethnal Green Police Station | 1894 | Located at 458 Bethnal Green Road, Bethnal Green. The building includes work by Butler and his son, who undertook modifications and renovations in 1917. The station closed in 1995 when a new, much larger station was opened in nearby Victoria Park Square the previous year.[22] | |
| Croydon Police Station | 1895 | Demolished in 1980 to make way for a public park called Queen's Gardens. |
Notes and references
Notes
- ^ The post of Surveyor to the Metropolitan Police has been held by ten people since its establishment in 1842: Charles Reeves (1842–1866); Thomas Charles Sorby (1867–8); Frederick Caiger (1868–81); John Butler (1881–95); John Dixon Butler (1895–1920); Gilbert Mackenzie Trench (1921–47); John Innes Elliott (1947–74); M. Belchamber (1974–88); T. Lawrence (1988–2002); A. Croney (2002–?).[3]
References
- ^ "Former Police Station", Wanstead Architecture, accessed 10 December 2025.
- ^ Historic England. "Police Station (Grade II) (1393152)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
- ^ Cherry & Pevsner 2002b, p. 21.
- ^ a b Sanderson, p.59.
- ^ "Police Station", Historic England, accessed 12 December 2025.
- ^ Bushey Police Station (Clay Hill)" Prison History, accessed 11 December 2025.
- ^ Sanderson, pp.79–80.
- ^ "Former police station in Chiswick High Road", London Picture Archive, accessed 10 December 2025.
- ^ Sanderson, p.45.
- ^ Sanderson, p.41.
- ^ "Planning minutes", Haringey London Borough Council, accessed 11 December 2025.
- ^ Sanderson, p. 73.
- ^ "The Norman Shaw Buildings", House of Commons Information Office, accessed 10 December 2025.
- ^ Sanderson, p.38.
- ^ "Norwood Green Norwood Green Police Station to close, MyLondon, 30 September 2013, accessed 10 December 2025.
- ^ "Leman Street Police Station, 74 Leman Street", Survey of London, accessed 11 December 2025.
- ^ "The Eva Hart", Weatherspoons, accessed 10 December 2025.
- ^ Sanderson, p. 72.
- ^ "Axe looms for police station?", Surrey Comet, 18 June 2004. Accessed 11 December 2025.
- ^ "The Watchman New Malden", Wetherspoons, accessed 11 December 2025.
- ^ "Blackwall River Police Station", Historic England, accessed 11 December 2025.
- ^ Sanderson, pp. 63–64.
Sources
- Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003). London 6: Westminster. The Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09595-1. OCLC 844722686.
- Cherry, Bridget; O'Brien, Charles; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2005). London 5: East. The Buildings of England. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10701-2. OCLC 1159868585.
- Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002a). London 2: South. The Buildings of England. Newhaven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09651-4. OCLC 844260066.
- Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002b). London 3: North West. The Buildings of England. Newhaven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09652-1. OCLC 844442257.
- Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002c). London 4: North. The Buildings of England. Newhaven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09653-8. OCLC 719418475.
- O'Brien, Charles; Nairn, Ian; Cherry, Bridget (2022). Surrey. The Buildings of England. London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-23478-7.
- Saint, Andrew (2010). Richard Norman Shaw. New Haven, US and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 9-780300-15526-6.
- Sanderson, Eileen (2021). London Police Stations. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Amberley Publishing. ISBN 9-781398-10016-9.