In a recent column I wrote about the great fire in Sutton Park in July 1868.

Though it was far from the only fire in the park in the nineteenth century, it burnt for the longest, raging for several days and destroying 500 acres of woodland.

Other fires in the park were extinguished in hours and were confined to areas of gorse and heather.

Some of these fires were started deliberately and others from the careless throwing away of matches when lighting pipes.

Amongst the fires in Sutton Park were those which took place in April 1890, April 1893, May 1894 and March 1899.

That in May 1894 was believed to have been deliberately started and that in March 1899 by a spark from one of the steam engines that passed through the park on the railway line opened twenty years earlier.

Flames

On each occasion the fire brigade was called and, with the help of the park keepers, the flames beaten out with branches.

The fire brigade in Sutton was under the command of Captain Browning.

All of the men were volunteers, there being about 15 of them.

The fire engine and other appliances and two horses were provided by the town council - though for several years it met the cost of a horse provided by William Allport.

The fire engine was capable of reaching destinations in the centre of Sutton in about three minutes, six minutes at night.

In 1889 the fire engine was called out to eleven small fires - in a few years it was not called out at all.

There was fire in the shop of the ironmonger Oldham Smith on the Parade in December 1888.

Guinea

Smith subsequently sent one guinea to the brigade and other property owners were encouraged to do the same.

When the shop of the butcher A.F. Wright caught alight in March 1896, there was time to remove all the meat and a good supply of water ensured the fire was quickly extinguished.

Despite the best efforts of the fire brigade, the stable of Ioseph Thickbroom in Duke Street was gutted in October 1893.

Browning pressed for fire hydrants to be placed across the town, and the town council took his advice.

By the turn of the century, the horsedrawn fire engine had become obsolete and was replaced by a steam-powered engine.

Glimpses into Sutton's Past Parts I, II & III by Stephen Roberts can be ordered from Amazon at £4.99- £5.49.

Associate Professor
Stephen Roberts