At the turn of the 19th century and into the opening years of the 20th century fires became a regular problem in Upchurch and some of these devastated several well-known village features.
It all began in June 1892 when three young boys were taken to court for setting fire to a hedge and forty fruit trees at Gore Farm causing £50 worth of damage. In court, the boys named James Tabrett aged seven, Ernest Tabrett aged six and James Huggins aged five also admitted setting two large haystacks alight previously. The boys’ parents had to pay the fine and the boys were given a warning.
The next serious fire in Upchurch took place in 1900 when a row of Wakeley Brothers thatched cottages known as White Huts Cottages at Otterham Quay burnt down when a spark from one of the chimneys set the thatch alight. The horse drawn Rainham fire engine took about 45 minutes to reach the blaze.
Resident James Robinson saw the fire begin and with his father and some brickfield workers they were able to save the furniture in one of the burning cottages and rescue some livestock grazing nearby. The fire brigade arrived too late to extinguish the fire, so the cottages were burnt to the ground.
Later in September 1900, a fire broke out in farmer George Clark’s fruit store at Ham Green Farm. The fire completely destroyed the fruit store causing about £200 worth of damage. This led to villagers calling for a solution to the recurring problem of fires. This resulted in the parish council deciding to have fire hydrants placed in different parts of the parish.
Towards the end of 1900 fire hydrants were placed between the Three Sisters and the Lord Stanley inns at Otterham Quay, between Anne’s Cottages in Forge Lane and Holywell Lane, at the top of Windmill Hill and at the top of Forge Lane. More hydrants were later placed opposite Otterham Cottages in Horsham Lane, at Holywell and at Gore Bank.
Upchurch Fire Brigade was formed in March 1903 with a crew of volunteer firemen led by George Capeling from Gore Bank to combat fires in the parish. The brigade was to be funded by the parish council but after arguments about storage of equipment and funding, the brigade only lasted for a few months then all the firemen resigned and the brigade ended in January 1904. The job of firefighting then returned to Rainham Fire Brigade.
Serious fires continued to take place in the parish with a hayrick blaze on Greenborough Island on land owned by Mr Lumley-Webb and another at Bayford on land owned by Wakeley Brothers during the summer of 1904.
Wakeley Mill - Windmill Hill, destroyed by fire in September 1910.
The biggest fire disaster occurred in September 1910 when the windmill on Windmill Hill, a well-known village feature for about 100 years and owned by Wakeley Brothers caught fire and had almost burnt to the ground before the fire engine arrived from Rainham.
Because of its age and because much of it was made of wood the windmill was highly inflammable and had already had a lucky escape when lightning had struck it but had failed to set it alight years earlier.
Although crowds of people came to watch the fire which could be observed from afar due to its location at the top of Windmill Hill, nobody could get near it because of the intense heat. However, police constable Jenner and police sergeant Ashton from Rainham were able to save some pigs located in a sty close to the blaze.
The fire engine arrived from Rainham but because of the intensity of the heat from the fire and the low pressure of the water from the hydrant at the top of Windmill Hill, the firemen were unable to extinguish the fire, so the windmill was completely destroyed, trees in an adjoining orchard were badly scorched and the store next to the windmill containing a collection of baskets, wheat and grain were also badly damaged. Overall, the damage cost Wakeley Brothers £250 and damage to farmer Sam Stokes’s fruit store cost about £100. The windmill which had been such a well-known feature on the landscape disappeared forever and only a few photos of it have survived.
Perhaps the most notable fire to occur in the parish in the years soon after the windmill fire occurred in 1912 when a monoplane being flown by a French pilot named Jules Nardini from France crash-landed in a field at Gore Farm. The plane had successfully completed a crossing of the English Channel to Dover. While flying the plane onto Hendon, engine problems developed, so the pilot crash landed the plane.
When a large crowd of villagers congregated at the site somebody dropped a lighted match on the ground which ignited petrol escaping from the plane’s fuel tank and created a blaze that destroyed the plane and burnt a large area of wheat being grown in the field owned by farmer Tom Crawford. The fire caused £50 worth of damage to the wheat field, while the monoplane was completely destroyed.
Although a few minor fires occurred in the parish in the immediate years after this there were no more serious blazes in the parish until after the Great War of 1914-1918.
About David
David was born and raised at Ham Green and still lives there today. He writes from personal experience about Upchurch village life and the changes that have taken place over the years.
David's book, Memories of Upchurch, is a very readable and detailed historical study of the village and is available direct from David at: david3702001@yahoo.co.uk price £12 + postage and packing.
