1. Has the building always looked the same?
No, originally it looked like this photograph. In 1869 the architect and historian James Picton (a member of the Wavertree Local Board of Health, which at that time owned the building) 'beautified' it by adding the pointed roof and weather-vane. The alternative would have been demolition.

2. What's happened to the upper floor?
The outer walls remain, but the floorboards have been removed. Horizontal strips of wood can be seen in the walls, halfway up, and holes in the sandstone indicate where the staircase timbers would have been inserted.

3. How many people could the Lock-up hold?
As many as necessary! It was meant as a punishment, not a B&B establishment.

4. What 'comforts and conveniences' were provided?
Possibly bales of straw to sleep on. And a bucket - in at least one of the eight corners of the building!

5. Did the building ever have windows?
Not as far as we know. The recesses were included purely for architectural effect. The only source of light and ventilation was the metal grille (still there) high above the entrance door.

6 For how many years was the Lock-up needed?
Until 1845, when a police station opened in a former house on the High Street (where Abbeygate Apartments are now). By 1851 this had moved to the corner of Waterloo Street, and in 1879 a purpose-built police station opened opposite the original site.

7. For what other purposes was it used?
During cholera epidemics, the Lock-up was used to isolate victims from the other villagers. In the 1840s it provided temporary shelter to destitute Irish families who had arrived in Liverpool during the Famine years but couldn't afford the fare to America. Later on it was used to store the village Fire Hose.

8. Who looks after the building now?
The owners are Liverpool City Council, who 'inherited' the building from the Wavertree Local Board of Health in 1895. It stands on Wavertree village green, which is the only piece of common land in Liverpool. The key is held by the Wavertree Society, and we are pleased to be able to open it up to curious visitors on request (as well as on Heritage Open Days).

Above: Wavertree Lock-up viewed from the north-west in the early 1900s and in 2012