Former police house, Eglwysbach
Former police house, Eglwysbach
If you’ve just scanned the QR codes on the noticeboard, look past the bushes to the right to see the white house which was built as the village’s police station, probably in the early 20th century. It’s now a private home – please don’t enter the garden.
The house included living accommodation for the village constable and his family, and was known to locals as Tŷ Plismon (“policeman’s house”). It closed in 1984, when Eglwysbach lost its bobby as part of changes to rural policing.
At least three other buildings in the village were home to the local constable at various times. On a Sunday evening in 1887, the police house was burgled while PC Gardner was out on patrol and his wife was at church. The thief took a purse containing £8 in gold and silver – equal to about £920 today. Not content with such riches, the thief also stole a loaf of bread and half a pound of butter!
There had been several other burglaries that year in Eglwysbach, and villagers were unimpressed with PC Gardner’s detective skills. A newspaper report on the police house burglary commented: “The most unfortunate feature in the affair is the somewhat jubilant spirit with which the people of the district have received the news.”
To the left of the noticeboard is the village’s telephone kiosk. Production of Britain’s first red phone box, the K2 design, began in 1924. This example is a K6, designed to celebrate the jubilee of King George V in 1935 – notice the crown above the door. The kiosk originally stood near Bryn Garrog, at the other end of the village.