May - June 2007

News and events from the Old Police Cells Museum

By Derek Oakensen

Now the female cells are open....

The four separate cells used for female prisoners before 1966 have recently been handed over by Brighton & Hove City Council to the Museum Society's tenancy.  Used as a general storage area for forty years, they have been cleaned out by the energetic Prince's Trust volunteers and were formally opened by the Lord Lieutenant for East Sussex,Mrs Phyllida Stewart-Roberts after the Society's annual General meeting on 3 April 2007.

The display area, apart from opening up a new part of the old Town Hall police station for visitors to see, will enable the Museum Society to expand its displays and provide extra security for exhibits.  Whilst plans have yet to be finalised, it is hoped that the new cell space will enable the Museum to put together displays representing other "pre-1968" police forces in Sussex, as well as one for the Sussex Police era (post 1968).