Worcestershire Constabulary was founded in 1839 and in the following decades the ‘village policeman’ became a familiar figure all over the county. Welland had a resident police officer from at least 1847 to the late 20th century, with two houses being used as police stations during that period.

Before 1994 police officers were entitled to either free accommodation or a housing allowance, which helped with the frequent transfers from one post to another.

Yew Tree Lodge, Drake Street

In 1851 Sgt George Checketts was recorded as living at the ‘police station, Drake Street’. This was the house at Brookend now called Yew Tree Lodge (formerly Yew Tree Cottage or Fir Tree Cottage, see map).

The house was in existence by 1847, when it appears in the tithe records. It was one of two adjacent cottages owned by Sarah Green, who also owned the next door Slade Firs. To become a police station the cottage must have been provided with somewhere secure to hold malefactors overnight – quite possibly a shed in the garden.

The census returns show that some of George Checketts’ successors were John Cowley (1861), Richard Potts (1871), William Walker (1881), Charles Williams (1891) and Alfred Jones (1901).

When the two cottages were auctioned in 1892 they were described as ‘two substantially-built messuages with productive gardens’. The police station was rented from the then owner at a cost of £9 9s per year.

The Old Police House, Gloucester Road

In 1905 a new police station was built on Gloucester Road (B4208) on land only enclosed from Welland Common in the 1850s (see map). This stretch of road had few houses along it at the time and the police station would have had fields either side at first. Perhaps the Drake Street police station was deemed to be no longer adequate or needed major repairs. Newspaper reports of the time indicate that Worcestershire County Council accepted the tender of Mr W James of Bromyard for the sum of £548 10s to build Welland police station.

By the time of the 1911 census Sgt George Cook was living there with his family.

Information from the General Valuation Survey visit of 1914 reveals that the house had a kitchen, parlour, back kitchen and one cell, with three bedrooms upstairs. Outside were a brick coalhouse, water closet, pigsty and water pump. Worcestershire County Council owned the house and the market valuation was £580. At this time Sgt Davis was the occupier. According to a villager in the 1940s, the cell had metal bars across the top rather than a roof.

Later police offers included Leonard Taplin Crawford (1921), Ernest Pratley, (1939 National Register), Jack Rogers, Gerry Day and Dave Henderson. The house was sold in 1983.

The full list of police officers known to have served in Welland can be found here.

Thanks to Bob Pooler of the Worcestershire Police History website and Stuart Holland of facebook Malvern History Page.