Wavertree Lock-up is an 18th-century

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

village lock-up located in Wavertree,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England.

History

Funded by local residents, the lock-up was constructed in 1796 as a

drunk tank A drunk tank is a jail cell or separate facility accommodating people who are intoxicated, especially with alcohol. Some such facilities are mobile, and may be spoken of as "booze buses". Traditionally, and in some jurisdictions currently, the ...

to hold intoxicated persons overnight. Prior to its construction a local unpaid

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

was charged with looking after drunks in their own home all the while claiming an expense of 2 shillings. Eventually, it became cheaper for a lock-up to be built rather than house drunks with a constable and therefore the building was constructed. Made from yellow

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

, the building is octagonal in shape, two storeys high and made of local

. During the 1840s the lock-up served as an isolation room for

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

victims and later during the Irish famine accommodation for families. In 1869, James Picton replaced the building's original flat roof with a pointed one to prevent prisoners from escaping through the building's roof.

References

External links

* {{commons category inline, Wavertree lockup Grade II listed buildings in Liverpool Buildings and structures completed in 1796 Unused buildings in Liverpool 1796 establishments in England Grade II listed prison buildings

History

See also

References

External links