Early 20th Century Fire Fighting Timeline

1900

  • Radwinter
  • Great Chesterford – Fire at the rear of Mr Wedd, Harness makers
  • Wimbish
  • Dix and Son, Saffron Walden
  • Radwinter
  • Cross Street, Hoops Stable
  • Mission Hall

1901

  • Quendon
  • Wimbish

1902

  • Sewards End
  • Littlebury

1904

  • Ashdon
  • Maltings, Great Chesterford

1905

  • Radwinter
  • Debden Hall
  • Hercules Inn, Newport – totally destroyed the former vicarage and congregational house.
  • Debden
  • Debden Green
  • Amberden Hall

1906

  • Radwinter

1908

  • Messrs. Joseph John Robson and Sons, King Street, Saffron Walden. In January, despite a good supply of water from standpipes in the High Street, George Street and Abbey Lane, a major fire quickly took hold sweeping through the warehouse and stores, with the roof eventually collapsing in. Their coffee roasting chamber and machinery were all destroyed and the building had to be entirely rebuilt following the fire.

1914

  • The Great Fire at Little Chesterford (see additional account)

1918

  • Easton Lodge, Little Easton (see additional account)

1921

  • Clavering – half of Starlings Green burned down

Early 1930s

  • Leggett’s Farm, Debden Green
  • Seward’s End Farm
  • Raynhams Farm, Peaslands Road
  • June 1931 – Taylor & Sons, a straw and chaff merchants, Littlebury
  • Rectory Farm, North End, Littlebury – arson incident : labourer maliciously sets fire to wheat stacks, he was disputing his wages.
  • 1932 – 400 year old Maple Cottages destroyed by fire, as thatch caught fire. Everyone safe but 16th century furniture and property destroyed.

1935

Loft’s Hall, Wendon Lofts – “A Tragic End to a Fine Old House”
Fire broke out on 15th May 1935 at Lofts Hall, an Elizabethan brick mansion at Wenden Lofts.  Firemen were powerless to save it despite reportedly using over 600 gallons of water per minute the roof had still caved in.  After 3 days of dampening down the smouldering remains, the house was left a “charred shell, flooded with water.”  The house’s owner, Graham Watson, a member of the London Stock Exchange, was away from home at the time of the fire.  The housekeeper’s and gardener’s families managed to salvage silverware, guns, oak panelling and furniture from the house, but lost all their own personal possessions.

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