Ex-Police Houses
Greasby had housing for police officers while Cheshire Constabulary was responsible for the area. In 1974 the change in local government meant that Merseyside Police would be responsible for Wirral. The Greasby police houses were vacated and sold into private ownership.
Ex-Police Houses 285 to 293 Greasby Road
These five houses were built in 1955/56 for Cheshire police officers.
One house, number 285, was a detached building and had a single storey extension (demolished in 2022) used for police work e.g. interviews and report writing. It had two drives – one each for a police vehicle and the occupant’s own vehicle. On the front wall there was a plaque displaying the Cheshire coat of arms.
Numbers 287 to 293 were semi-detached houses. Their design was unusual; one half of the building being at a right angle to the other half.
The plaque at number 285 became hidden from view. It was partly obscured by a porch built around 1990 and partly by render applied to the walls. Recently (2022) the plaque has been exposed. Unfortunately it has been damaged. Visibility is likely to be short-lived as the building has planning permission for a new porch and the walls will possibly be re-rendered.
This Google image shows nº 285 prior to the 2021/22 building work. The plaque is completely hidden. The single storey extension on the left had been the police office until 1974.
February 2022 - The render has been partly removed and the top of the plaque is exposed.
March 2022 - After removal of the porch the complete plaque can be seen.
The damage can be seen. The cut line is from the construction of the porch c1990.
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Ex-Police Houses 32 & 34 Greasby Road
34 (L) & 32 (R) Greasby Road
1946 directory
A 1946 directory identifies nº 32 & 34 Greasby Road as police accommodation and that nº 32 was a police station.
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Ex-Police Houses at 20 & 22 Arrowe Road
The ex-police houses at 20 & 22 Arrowe Road.
The plaque showing the Cheshire coat of arms is on the wall of nº 22. It is in very good condition.
The layout of the two semi-detached houses is similar to the ex-police houses at 291 & 293 Greasby Road i.e. at a right angle to each other.
One interesting feature is that the next property along Arrowe Road from nº 22 is nº 34. A 1946 aerial view shows a gap between the buildings which are now numbers 14 and 42. The post office allocated street numbers in the late 1940s or early 1950s and estimated how many numbers to reserve for whatever would eventually be built in the gap plus a few spares 'just in case'.
A 1955 map shows the ex-police houses which are now 20 & 22 but their numbers are not shown on the map (numbers 14 and 34 are shown numbered). Houses now numbered 16 & 18 are not on the map.
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Possible Ex-Police Houses at 23 & 25 Arrowe Road
A senior resident of Greasby stated, about 2005, that the cottages known as 'Greenheys' and '1840 Cottage' (23 & 25 Arrowe Road) had once been police houses. He also stated that there had once been a plaque between the front bedroom windows.
If you have any knowledge or evidence to confirm this please share it with contact@greasby.info