Police Station, Streatham High Road

Image: © Stephen Richards Taken: Unknown

Built in 1912 to the designs of John Dixon Butler, who was responsible for many of the Metropolitan Police's stations around this period. An interesting building, with the stone cornice carried up to form a pediment on three of the four sides. It is within the Streatham High Road and Streatham Hill Conservation Area. It is the second police station on the site, the first one being built in 1865, and replaced because it was too small to cope with Streatham's burgeoning population. For similar reasons, a few years ago it was proposed to build a larger station on a then-vacant site on the corner of Gleneagle Road, but the scheme fell through for lack of money and flats were built instead. The course of Streatham High Road has been a major highway between London and Sussex since Roman times. Its current appearance is largely attributable to two major spells of development. The first was during the late C19th following the opening of Streatham Hill station in 1856, and the second was after 1911 when the line to Victoria was electrified. Though much-maligned and undoubtedly blighted by heavy traffic, closer examination reveals that the road is lined with a number of interesting buildings, some of which reflect the period between the wars when Streatham was a fashionable centre of entertainment. Information from Lambeth Council (http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/NR/exeres/CE4B5CE1-0387-40ED-B5A9-273A5160C34A.htm ).

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0