Originally Published in the Trusty Servant:
Winchester College, in its 600-odd years, has not dodged the bullet of fire. All the well-documented ones occurred in the latter half of the extensive history of the college and are unique in many ways. Having begun my errands into the history of this series of unfortunate events by contacting the Archivist, Suzanne Foster, to look at some of the documents concerning the fires, I produced some in-depth videos on each specific fire which you can watch through this link: bit.ly/wincollfire. On March 24th, 1735, a fire broke out in IIIrd Chamber. Little damage was caused by the fire, but the locals who helped to extinguish it were rewarded justly. The origin of the fire is unknown. The damage caused was minor, but it warned the College of the considerable risk which fire posed.
Two of the consequences are prominent. Firstly, the College was insured through the Sun Fire Office, whose plaque, left, issued to show that the College had paid, can still be seen attached above Middle Gate. The other major consequence of the fire was that the College purchased an engine, at the expense of the Headmaster, Dr John Burton, for £40. The fire engine was kept for a substantial period and was probably used to extinguish the subsequent fire. A fire occurred over Ist and IInd Chambers, on November 10th, 1815. “College was burnt,” reads the Prefect of Hall’s book. The fire broke out in the early morning whilst the College was asleep. In the archives is a copy of a letter that describes the fire and its circumstances in extensive detail. It mentions that no one was hurt and describes the commotion caused in getting a fire engine to fight the fire.
As to the fire in 1735, many locals helped to extinguish the blaze. A small book that records all the people to whom the College gave money after the fire mentions no fewer than 257 people. The difficulty in working out who was rightfully owed money, maintaining a reason for the locals to help in future fires, was also mentioned.
Some fires occurred outside the medieval heart. On February 7th, 1909, Beloe’s, or Kingsgate House, went up in flames. The fire originated behind the panelling above the fireplace in Grubbing Hall, although most of the damage caused was upstairs in Rev. R. D. Beloe’s drawing room. The collegians helped to salvage everything that they could. The objects destroyed by the fire were valuable and irreplaceable.
The College possesses photographs, as above, of the drawing-room after the fire. However, most of the information comes from newspaper cuttings, which, although riddled with inaccuracies, provide a thorough description. The annotated copy maintained by the archives helps to iron out the mistakes — the newspaper articles were unsure of the cause of the fire, but the annotator included it.
Flint Court suffered a destructive fire in 1947. The block between Flint and Moberly Courts was gutted, although the fire was prevented from spreading to the then Headmaster’s and Second Master’s houses. The cause of the fire was a poorly-wired electric heater too close an armchair. The story of the ignition featured in previous Trusty Servants (103 & 104).
An exciting document from the time is the Commoner VI Hot Roll of 1947, pictured below. It depicts the fire. The Titanic-esque violinist on the roof of Hall is fictional, somewhat obviously — the roof was used by firemen to suppress the fire.
Drawing comparisons, at least three of the four fires occurred in the middle of the night, and no one was seriously injured in any of them. Because of the tremendous efforts of townsfolk, firefighters, pupils and staff, the College has never witnessed a catastrophic fire, and Chamber Court is similar to how William of Wykeham would have left it. The College now has rigorous fire-safety measures including regular fire-alarm tests and fire-evacuation drills, meaning that a repeat occurrence is very unlikely.
Original Publication: https://joom.ag/dzNI/p21.
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