Bath City Police Force Somerset and Bath Constabulary Avon and Somerset Constabulary
Date
1841-1991
Extent
Extent: 17 boxes and 15 vols.
Description
The collection includes annual reports, personnel records, records relating to the administration of criminal justice, civil functions and civil defence, photographs and records relating to the police headquarters in Manvers Street, Bath. It also includes some records of the local branch of the Police Federation.
Access Conditions
Most of the collection is open, but some items are closed in accordance with UK Data Protection Law.
Custodial History
Bath City Police Force was set up in 1836 following the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, which required boroughs to organise and maintain a police force. It replaced the three parish-based police forces which had covered the City, Walcot and Bathwick until this date. It consisted initially of 132 officers, and was organised and administered by the Bath City Watch Committee from 1836 to 1966. In 1966, it was amalgamated with Somerset Constabulary to form the Somerset and Bath Constabulary, which came into being on 1 January 1967. In 1974, a further reorganisation saw the Somerset and Bath Constabulary combine with the Bristol Police Force and the southern part of the Gloucestershire Constabulary to form the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, which remains the police authority for the area. The headquarters of the police force was in Orange Grove from 1866 to 1966, when a new Police Station was opened in Manvers Street. For a short period in the 1980s and 1990s, there was a small museum in this building, although this was not open to the public.
