1881 Heritage

The Former Marine Police Headquarters Compound (Chinese: 前水警總部), constructed in 1884, is located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The site is now officially renamed as 1881 Heritage.

The Kowloon compound used to be occupied by the Marine Police, now a unit within the Hong Kong Police Force, since its establishment until late 1996, when it was moved to Sai Wan Ho.

The compound is a declared monument since 1994 as it is one of the four oldest surviving government buildings in Hong Kong. The Compound and the Old Kowloon Fire Station have been re-developed into a heritage hotel with food and beverage outlets and retail facilities in a project headed by architect Daniel Lin of A+T Design, opened in 2009.

The former Marine Police Headquarters was constructed in 1884. It comprises a main building, a stable block and a signal tower. It has been used by the Marine Police, except for the Japanese Occupation (1941–1945) when the compound was used as a base by the Japanese navy.

During the Japanese Occupation period, extensive underground tunnels were constructed beneath the lawn but after World War II, these tunnels were blocked and the lawn was returfed for the safety of public.

In the 1970s the compound lost a large part of its grounds, when the slope was levelled to make way for the construction of Kowloon Park Drive.

The station was colloquially referred to as T-Lands Police Station – probably a reference to Marine Police brevity code for a marine police station on "Land" at "Tsim Sha Tsui". This name is used in at least two novels based in Hong Kong: “Soldier of Fortune” by Ernest K. Gann published in 1954. and "Dragon Flame" by Nick Carter published in 1966.

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