I feel I can safely say that almost no town, village or hamlet in the county has been untouched by fire at some point during its history. It must have been an ever-present fear for every community; all that was needed was one little spark. Barns and hayricks were often to be found in the proximity of dwellings, and fire could quickly spread…

 
Ramsbury Fire Brigade attending a house fire in Oxford Street, Ramsbury, early 20th century
Ref: P6106

All houses were constructed of flammable materials, with thatch roofs being particularly vulnerable. When added to this the presence of naked flames, it presented a high degree of risk to person, property and livelihood.

Ramsbury, June 1648

The Ramsbury Fire of June 14^th, 1648 destroyed the houses and belongings of 130 people. The county committee authorized collections throughout Wiltshire, but eleven weeks after the fire those affected had still not received much aid (the Civil War and many other needy appeals were occurring at the same time).  Shockingly, the Ramsbury inhabitants had also found that a forged ‘brief’ was being used to raise money for the cause which they would never receive. They had to act quickly, placing a notice of the circumstances in the London newsbooks of the day, telling of the validity of the fire and the illegality of the first brief. In fact none of the newsbooks had mentioned the fire at the time as they were too concerned with war movements.

After initial local assistance, further assistance could be raised on a regional or even national scale by raising a charitable brief, ‘a licence to collect relief which was issued by the Lord Chancellor’ [1].

Marlborough, April 1653

Marlborough was devastated by the ‘Great Fire’ of 28^th April 1653, the worst of a number of previous fires , the earliest recorded being 1465. ‘Two hundred and twenty four houses together with the Church and Market House were burned’. Cromwell himself issued a fire brief asking for subscriptions to ‘alleviate the suffering and rebuild the town’ and contributed £2,000[2].

Colerne, April 1774.

42 houses, 2 malt houses, 18 barns, 7 stables, 36 outhouses, 3 wheat ricks and 3 hayricks were ‘reduced to ashes’. Sixty three families lost their homes and there were calls for immediate relief. People were asked to leave their donations at the following places: “The Bath Bank”, “Public Rooms”, “Pump Room”, coffee houses or booksellers in Bath. The final amount would be distributed by the Right Hon. The Earl of Denbigh, The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Palmerston, Archdeacon Chapman, the Rector of Bath, the Mayor of Bath, James Clutterbuck Esq. of Lucknam House, Colerne and the Reverend Merewether, Minister of Colerne, amongst other notables

Damages were estimated at £4, 246. 6. 5and a half. The only house insured (at £300) was that of Thomas Southward (Ref: 245/2).

 List of the ‘Names of the poor sufferers’ which include their occupation, ages, number in the family and estimate of damage costs.

Churches often included ‘briefs’ in their sermons, asking for donations for help with the church roof, but also for events such as this.

Biddesden, July 1755

The diary of A. J. Capps, living at Biddesden in the 18^th century records the event of July 25^th, 1755. ‘A great fire at Penton which burned down six dwelling houses, six barns, several stables, and other buildings with above one hundred quarters of Malt. Two hayricks and almost all the house hold goods. To the amount of 2000 damage. The fire rose about midnight not known by what means’. Capps’ diary was discovered under some rubbish in a loft at Crawlboys Farm in 1875 (Ref: LUD.927).

Insurance

It appears that, as today, insurance was an important part of protecting your property. I would have thought the cost to have been beyond the means of the majority of ordinary people, but this is not the case as you can see by the policy belonging to Benjamin Brinsdorp below.

 Sun Fire office policy number 128282 for Benjamin Brinsdorp of Great Bedwyn. He was a labourer who paid six shillings and two pence on 25^th Dec 1752, and was to pay a further six shillings annually to insure against ‘loss or damage by fire’ on ‘His now dwelling house and wellhouse adjoining only situate as aforesaid thatchd/not exceeding eighty pounds/on his household goods and furniture therein only/not exceeding twenty pounds’ Ref: 9/26/412.

           Advertisement in the Wiltshire & Gloucestershire Standard, January 1st, 1910, p.1

Fire marks

The losses incurred from the Great fire of London led to the beginning of the first fire insurance societies, from 1680 in London. ‘Before 1800 the naming of streets in our cities and towns was rather haphazard, and the houses and other buildings in these streets were neither named nor numbered as they are today’ [3]. Fire marks were a way of identifying buildings that were insured, and by whom. It has been said that the rivalry between insurance companies was so great that one company would let a neighbouring building burn if they had not insured it, but it appears that most would put out the fire and then get reimbursement from the other company concerned. I am not sure what happened regarding uninsured property, though!

 
Fire Mark on a property in Urchfont
Ref: P6869

Fire Hooks

Fire (or town) crooks were used to try to contain fires; they were long poles with iron hooks on the end and were used to pull the thatch off roofs to try to prevent the fire spreading. In Trowbridge in 1666 the parish constable was ordered to have two sufficient crooks made, and in 1669 William Collett was reported for ‘detaining’ the iron of the town crooks’ [4].

West Lavington Fire Hooks

If ever you’m passing through Lavington West,

You’ll see two girt Hooks, big and strong,

They be hanging on ‘Home Farm’ wall, opposite Shop,

You can’t miss ‘em, ‘cause they be so long…

…Now the place, where they’m hanging, used to be thatched,

And that were a worry to Squire,

So he had these girt Hooks made to take the stuff down,

For fear any on it caught fire.

They be over a Hundred and Twenty years old,

And around Seventy-Seven foot long, I be told,

So if anyone thinks about trying to shift ‘em.

I can tell ‘ee it takes about five men to lift ‘em.

And, What’s more, they’m unique, so just leave ‘em be,

‘cause they’m nothing to you, but a great deal to we.

                                                                        ‘Moonshine’ by Gwen Ellis, 1976

                                                                                                                Ref: XEL.821

Fire Engines

The national fire service we know today dates from the 1940s. Before this it was not unusual for even small villages to possess a fire engine, but help from these fire ‘brigades’ had to be met by financial charges. For those who did have insurance, again battles ensued between the fire brigade and the insurance companies involved!

Even in the days when a town had a fire engine, it could take a long while to get the engine up and able to assist.

The churchwardens of Wishford bought what is thought to be the first fire engine operated in the county in 1728. It cost £33 3s 0d. Aldburne was struck by fire on 24^th August 1777, when the town was all but destroyed. The following year two manual fire engines were purchased, the largest was called Adam and the smaller one, Eve.

In Marlborough subscriptions were paid to support and repair two fire engines and buckets ‘for the use of the Borough and other subscribers’ by 1747[6].

Julie Davis
Local Studies Assistant 

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Sources
[2][6] ‘Moonraker Firemen (of the past)’ by Peter Thorpe, 1979. Ref: AAA.615

[1] ‘Disaster Relief in the Seventeenth Century: The Ramsbury Fire of 1648’ by Stephen Porter. Ref: WAM Vol. 78, p.124-5

 [3] The British Firemark 1680-1879 by Brian Wright, 1982. Ref: 368.11

[4] ‘Fire Precautions in Trowbridge’ by Ken Rogers, 2004. Ref: TRO.615

‘Capps Diary’. Ref: LUD.927