The assembly room was then made available for public meetings, and part of the ground floor was used as a police station.

[3] In March 1883, a public meeting was held at which the Great Eastern Railway presented proposals for the construction of the Shenfield–Southend line.

[5] The police service relocated to new premises further south along the High Street, on the corner with London Road, at that time.

After Essex County Council sold the building to a developer in 1999, a major programme of refurbishment works costing £500,000 was undertaken.

Then, in 2010, a new operator took over the lease and undertook further refurbishment works, to a design by Brown Studio,[12] after which the restaurant was rebranded as "Wildwood".