Many changes that have been made in the area of the present Memorial Court and Northwich police station.

The first police station was a lock-up in Cross Street which was a small brick building with three cells that was erected in 1840.

This was replaced by a much larger black and white building during the later-1800s.

In the early 1960s along with the rows of substandard terraced houses in the area, it was demolished, and Northwich Court built on the site.

A new police station was built over the road in the 1960s, and this has now been modernised and updated.

The first of these new builds, however, albeit by a small margin was the quite famous Northwich Memorial Hall, better known as ‘The Morgue.’

It was opened on June 1, 1960, and this was at the dawn of excellent and seminal 60s music.

Accordingly, the likes of The Beatles who performed there six times, Gene Vincent, Joe Brown, Acker Bilk, The Animals, The Kinks, The Hollies, The Who.

I could go on forever listing the class acts that appeared at this famous venue.

Before the removal of the terraced houses upon which the police station now stands the Memorial Hall can be seen on the right from what was John Street.

Over the years both the police station and the court served the town well, but this did not stop the powers that be deciding to demolish both ‘The Morgue’ and the Northwich Court in 2015.

A new facility was built on the site of the court, and ‘The Morgue’, named the Memorial Court as seen in the new photo.

The exterior design met with much criticism although the interior is said to be quite pleasant!

By Paul Hurley.

Paul Hurley has a Facebook group titled Northwich and Mid Cheshire Through Time and his latest local book is the small ‘Northwich History Tour.’