Former Newton Street Police Station

The former Newton Street Police Station, now the Greater Manchester Police Museum, was built in 1879 by J.H. Lynde, with alterations made in 1902 by the City Surveyor. It is constructed of red brick in English bond, with sandstone dressings, and a slate roof. The building has an L-shaped layout, facing Newton Street and Faraday Street.

The main facade is two storeys and four bays, featuring a plinth, alternating quoins at the street corner, a broad band above the ground floor, a first-floor sill band, a string course, and a prominent moulded cornice and blocking course. A round-headed doorway, flanked by fluted consoles above a pediment and incorporating keystone and carved city arms in the tympanum, is located in the second bay. A narrower window sits above the door. All windows are segmental-headed with drip moulds, stone imposts, and keystones, and contain wooden mullion-and-transom sliding sash windows. Cast-iron downpipes are partially embedded along the left side and between bays 3 and 4.

The seven-bay return façade to Faraday Street includes a truncated cornice and string course, with similar detailing and windows to both floors, alternating between narrow and wide. A single-story continuation incorporates a tall, rectangular, panelled and corniced chimney stack set back at the junction. A segmental-headed doorway with a quoined surround, city arms in the tympanum, and the inscription ‘A. DIVISION/ POLICE STATION’ is also present. Quoins mark the angle with Little Lever Street.

Originally designed as a defensible building, the original layout included a range facing Faraday Street (then Friday Street), a rear outshut to the east of centre, and a detached mortuary in the rear yard, enclosed by a high wall on Newton Street. The largely blind west end of the Faraday Street façade reflects the original appearance of the entire structure. A chimney, first marked on a 1922 Ordnance Survey map, is thought to be original.

The police station underwent substantial rebuilding in 1902, which resulted in the replacement of the Newton Street wing, with male cells, a parade room above, and the rear outshut, by an L-shaped, two-story weights and measures office and workshop, with a glazed courtyard behind. The rear outshut was removed at ground floor, with the first floor being supported by columns within the courtyard, and a new charge office outshut was added to the west of centre. A new parade room was constructed over the surviving female cell wing.

The building ceased functioning as a police station in 1979 and was converted into a museum in 1981. In 2000, the rescued interior of the Denton Police Court (1895) was installed within the 1902 parade room. The mortuary located in the rear yard was demolished in the late 20th century.