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Fire!

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Mar 4, 2011

Tagged in: Wiltshire , war , village , town , Thomas Southward , The Earl of Denbigh , The Bath Bank , thatch , spark , sermons , roofs , Reverend Merewether , regional , Rector , Ramsbury , Pump Room , Public Rooms , property , property , Penton , newsbooks , nationa , money , Minister , Mayor , materials , Marlborough , Market House , Lucknam House , Lord Viscount Palmerston , Lord Chancellor , London , livelihood , James Clutterbuck , Insurance , inhabitants , History , hayricks , hamlet , Great Fire , forged , flammable , fire , dwellings , donations , diary , Damages , Cromwell , Crawlboys Farm , county , Colerne , Colerne , coffee houses , Civil War , church , charitable , brief , booksellers , Biddesden , Benjamin Brinsdorp , barns , Archdeacon Chapman , appeals , A. J. Capps

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.




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The Old Bridewell in Devizes

Posted by: Blog Administrator on Dec 17, 2010

Tagged in: workshop , Wiltshire , walls , vagabonds , Thomas Platt , The Old Bridewell , The Grange , suspects , surgeon , State of the Prisons , Southwell , solitary confinement , segmental , sashes , Salisbury , rogues , Richard Ingleman gaol , red-brick houses , prison reformer , Principal , pre-trial , polygonal prison , Police station , Oxford , Norwich , Nether Stowey , Margaret Parrott , London , Lincs , Ladies’ School , keystone , John Howard , Jane E. Hollis , jail , initials , infirmary , idle poor , Health of Prisoners Act , grafitti’d , governess , garden , Folkingham , fire , exercise yard , Eliza Hopkins , Dorothy Treasure , Devizes Almshouse Trust , Devizes , detaining , County Gaol , committee , Cheltenham , burnt down , Bridewell Street , Bridewell prison , bridewell , Borough , boarded with her , attics , apothecary , almswomen

 In the centre of Devizes is an unassuming building, not very different from those red-brick houses flanking it. It has large, airy two-by-two pane sashes with typical segmental arches which contain a shaped keystone. Behind the net curtains can be glimpsed a cosy living room, and a pretty garden beyond. This is The Grange and it was once the old Devizes jail, or bridewell, in Bridewell Street.


The Old Bridewell, Devizes

 The Old Bridewell, Devizes

The Bridewell started life in 1579 as a timber-framed building in the street which now bears its name. It was established after the opening of the Bridewell prison in London in 1556 as a new type of prison to deal with the growing numbers of those regarded as rogues and vagabonds or the idle poor. This example had been followed in Oxford in 1562, Salisbury in 1564 and Norwich in 1565. It was burnt down twice and rebuilt: after a fire in 1619 and another more serious fire in 1630, but still in timber, much of which survives today.






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