An 18th-century stone structure stands on Everton Brow, marking the spot where parish constables once held drunks and petty criminals overnight. Opened in 1787, this Grade II-listed lock-up served as a holding place before offenders faced local magistrates. Those convicted typically received sentences of community labour – clearing ditches, unblocking drains or removing rubbish from the streets. The building is one of only two surviving Georgian lock-ups in Liverpool; its counterpart remains in Wavertree. Its nicknames, Prince Rupert’s Tower and Prince Rupert’s Castle, reference the Royalist commander who camped on this hillside in 1644 before the siege of Liverpool during the English Civil War. From this vantage point, Rupert surveyed the town’s castle and reportedly declared it “a crow’s nest that any party of schoolboys could take” – though it took his forces a week of brutal fighting and 1,500 casualties to capture it.
The lock-up gained wider recognition in 1938 when Everton F.C. adopted its image as the centrepiece of their official crest, a connection the club acknowledged with a commemorative plaque added to the building in 2003. Everton invested £15,000 in renovations during 1997, and in February 2014 the structure was illuminated in the club’s signature blue. The Friends of Everton Park have incorporated the lock-up into their Heritage Trail, with information boards positioned nearby for visitors exploring the area’s historical layers.