10-08-2025
Grave robbers beware, Charlie's watching you
A COUPLE of weeks ago I wrote a piece about policing Worcester in the 1950s when young PC George Lewis on his night-time patrols knew the shape and feel of every shop doorknob in The Shambles.
But long before George the city's security was down to old men known as Charlie who were not only ancient but often infirm too. A combination which inevitably handicapped the system somewhat.
In the days prior to regular police forces they were similar to nightwatchmen and occupied sentry-type boxes which gave shelter from the elements but were sometimes sited in bizarre places.
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A Charlie on Worcester Cross you might understand but one in nearby St Nicholas churchyard?
Presumably as a deterrent to graverobbing, a potentially lucrative crime at one time.
The Charlies (or Charleys) began in the 1660s when Charles II set up a force of paid watchmen to patrol city streets.
But the financial remuneration was poor and the effort put in by most was commensurate.
They were not really supposed to leap from their boxes to affect an arrest – their physical condition would usually prohibit that – but raise the alarm that bad deeds were afoot and hope the general populace would respond.
Even so, it must have taken some courage to be a Charlie, not least because they were also frequently the butt of practical jokes by the young bucks of the period looking for a laugh on a night out.
A Charlie was stationed nightly at Worcester bridge to keep a lookout on people passing over the Severn, his hours usually divided between smoking and sleeping in his box.
Late one evening a group of young men found him asleep, gently carried him and his box down to the water's edge and set it adrift on the river.
It was not until the water seeped into his box that he awoke and had to be rescued by watermen.
Another of the Worcester Charlies was secured in his box and turned over on the pavement.
He had to wait until daylight for passers-by to notice his plight but apparently he was not very popular so no one rushed to release him.
Apart from this levity, things could turn nasty.
In the 1820s a group calling themselves The Lambs used to infest the city streets at night, molesting and abusing anyone they fancied.
Richard Hill was the last of Worcester's Charlies in his box on The Cross and he suffered a serious assault by these yobs.
For some time Hill lay close to death and, although he eventually recovered, he was considered unfit to continue as a Charlie – so he must have been pretty bad - and instead was appointed beadle of St Nicholas Church. Which fortunately didn't involve sitting in the churchyard at night.
