'Imposing' former police station in Towcester gets listed status

Towcester police station is being sold off by Northamptonshire Police

A former police station has earned Grade II listed status after a campaign to preserve the "imposing, symmetrical" structure.

The building on Watling Street, Towcester, dates from the 1930s.

It is owned by the Northamptonshire police, fire and crime commissioner's office, who plan to sell it.

Former mayor Martin Johns said it had now been fully recognised for its "architectural features and historic interest".

Mr Johns applied for listed status earlier this year to get protection for the building as the police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) had indicated that it was surplus to requirements.

It had ceased to be a police station in 2012, a year after the adjacent magistrates' court closed.

Martin Johns said the "architectural features and historic interest" of the building had now been recognised.

Mr Johns said at the time: "Whilst it's accepted the building is perhaps no longer fit for purpose as a police station, this imposing, symmetrical building should and must be preserved."

'Striking principal elevation'

Historic England, the agency tasked with protecting old buildings, compiled a report for the culture secretary Lucy Frazer in response to the application.

It said the "neo-Tudor style" two-storey building had been listed for "architectural interest".

It had "a restrained yet striking principal elevation, symmetrically composed with a central archway" and had adopted "associations of tradition, authority and security".

Mr Johns said: "Since moving to Towcester some 41 years ago, I have always been surprised that the building hadn't been fully recognised for its architectural features and historic interest.

"Today, with its Grade II Listing, it has."

Listed status means that special consent must be obtained before any changes are made that might affect the building's architecture.