New homes in Bermondsey: sleek flats and townhouses for sale in a listed former police station

An historic riverside pocket of Bermondsey bordering fashionable Shad Thames includes a listed former police station in Paradise Street.

It replaced a graveyard watch house where the local beadle would stand guard in case body snatchers tried to steal corpses to sell for anatomical study and experimentation.

The house, built in 1814, was first the home of William Gaitskell, a surgeon, and became the police house in 1836, the year before Queen Victoria's long reign began.

This is perhaps the most handsome micro neighbourhood of the old docks district, with its medieval pubs, wharves and warehouses, ancient churches and old charity schools. Corralled by council estates, this spot has been ignored until now.

But the £2 billion regeneration project at nearby Canada Water and Grosvenor Estate's redevelopment of the former Peek Frean biscuit factory is throwing a spotlight on to the district.

The old police station, which sits alongside a small riverside park, has been turned into seven flats and two townhouses incorporating original architectural detail.

Prices in the scheme, called William Gaitskell House, start from £640,000. Call estate agent Daniel Cobb on 020 7357 0026.