Old Gaol Museum Buckingham - The History of the Building : Empty Gaol

	This postcard picture shows the Old Gaol when it first stood empty, in the late 19th century. What can you do with an Old Gaol? For a while it was the Fire Station and stored the Fire Engine. You could pull a cord attached to a bell on one of the towers to call the Brigade. From 1892 until 1926 the Royal Bucks Hussars stored ammunition in one of the cells. From 1907 public toilets were installed there.
The first proposal to make it into a museum came in 1935 from Councillor Marriott. Nothing happened as the Council decided there was not sufficient space.. During the Second World War, some of the cells were used as air raid shelters, but the Ministry of Food would not allow the Gaol to be used as a "British Restaurant". However, the toilets remained very popular. The accounts for 1952-3 show that over 100 people a day used them.
	The post-war times brought new uses. In the 1950s it became an antiques shop and cafe under several tenants. You can see the ANTIQUES sign above the door on the post-card on the left. In 1964 the East Midlands Electricity Board took over the toilets as an electricity sub-station, which is still there today. The Town Council spent many hours discussing its future and the dangerous traffic problem it presented. Several times they considered pulling it down.