Police box

Lore & Background

The first public police telephones in Britain appeared in Glasgow in 1891. These tall, hexagonal, cast-iron boxes were painted red and had large gas lanterns fixed to the roof, as well as a mechanism which enabled the central police station to light the lanterns as signals to police officers in the vicinity to call the station for instructions. A newer, rectangular type of cast-iron police box was introduced in Glasgow in 1912, with the signal light now powered by electricity rather than gas, and access to the telephone now restricted solely to the police.

Rectangular, wooden, garden shed style police boxes were introduced in Sunderland in 1923 by Chief Constable Frederick J. Crawley, and then in Newcastle in 1925. Crawley was arguably the first proponent of the concept of the police box as a miniature police station rather than just a communications point, including unrestricted access to the telephone by the general public for contacting police, ambulance, and fire services. The Metropolitan Police introduced police boxes throughout London between 1928 and 1937, and the design that later became the most well-known was created by the Met's own surveyor and architect, Gilbert Mackenzie Trench, in 1929. Between 1929 and 1938 around 1,000 examples of the Mackenzie Trench police box were installed.

Police boxes continued to play an important role in police work until the late 1960s to early 1970s, when they were phased out following the introduction of personal radios. As the main functions of the boxes were superseded by the rise of portable telecommunications devices like the walkie-talkie and the near universal access by the public to telephones and the 999 emergency number, very few police boxes remain in Britain today. Some have been converted into High Street coffee bars.

Reader's Guide

Police boxes were a distinctive feature of British urban life for much of the 20th century, serving as both a communication link and a miniature police station. Their design varied by location, with the most iconic being the blue Metropolitan Police boxes designed by Gilbert Mackenzie Trench in 1929. These boxes allowed patrolling officers to contact their station via a direct telephone line, and a flashing light on top could summon an officer. The interior contained a stool, table, heater, fire extinguisher, first aid kit, and incident book, enabling officers to complete paperwork or temporarily hold detainees.

The system was adopted by most provincial police forces in Great Britain between 1923 and 1960. However, the introduction of personal radios in the late 1960s and early 1970s rendered the boxes largely obsolete. Many were removed, though some were preserved or repurposed. The blue police box gained enduring cultural significance through its association with the science fiction television programme Doctor Who, in which the Doctor's time machine, a TARDIS, is disguised as a British police box. Today, a small number of original boxes remain, managed by preservation trusts or converted into coffee kiosks, particularly in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Did You Know?

• Glasgow police boxes were painted red until the late 1960s, when the popularity of Doctor Who prompted a change to blue.
• The Metropolitan Police installed around 1,000 Mackenzie Trench police boxes between 1929 and 1938.
• Police boxes were phased out in the late 1960s to early 1970s following the introduction of personal radios.