OLD PLYMOUTH . UK
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RAILWAYS IN OLD PLYMOUTH  |  GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY  |  TAVISTOCK SOUTH STATION

TAVISTOCK STATION FIRE, 1887

The following account of the great fire that destroyed the Great Western Railway Company's Tavistock Station on the evening of Saturday August 27th 1887 is transcribed from the Western Morning News for Monday August 29th 1887:

'The fire originated in the lamp-room, though how can only be conjectured.  Its action was swift and destructive.  Discovery of the outbreak was made by one of the porters employed at the station, and named Alexander Richards, who, going to the lavatory at a quarter-past six in the evening, saw flakes of mortar falling from the ceiling, and looking up perceived thick smoke pouring downwards between the ceiling and the roof, apparently coming from the western end of the building, where the lamp-room was situated.  Returning at once to the platform, Richards saw a strong glare of fire under the door of the lamp-room, which opened out upon the platform, and he immediately raised an alarm.' 

'All the station premises, except the goods department, are situated on the down platform, on the south side of the station, forming a long low building of one storey, facing a dead wall, overlooked by the Whitchurch-road.  The lamp-room occupied the westernmost end.  Next to it was the office of the traffic inspector, Mr Chamberlain, on the other side of which was the lavatory.  The third-class waiting-room and booking-office came next, occupying the central portion of the buildings.  On the other side of the booking-office were the stationmaster's private room, the first and second class waiting room, with the ladies' waiting-room leading out of it, and, further on, the parcel office and refreshment-room, in which the premises terminated on the eastern side.  Built in 1859 entirely of wood, with lath and plaster partitions, the structure was of a kind sure to burn easily and furiously.  On the up or north platform the only erection is a wooden wall, extending the greater part of the length of the platform, and forming the northern support of the roof, ,which, as all travellers on the line know, spans the permanent way and both platforms.  In length the roof, which is of wood covered with lead at the sides, and of glass in the centre, extends a distance of about 150 feet, and in width it is 50 or 60 feet.  To the north of the up platform lies the goods department, and connecting the platforms at the eastern end is a footbridge.'

'In the lamp-room at the time of the outbreak were three signal lamps, which had been lighted only a quarter of an hour previously by one of the porters, named Palmer.  It has for years been customary to leave the lamps after lighting them in the lamp-room for a quarter of an hour in order to regulate them before placing them in the receptacles provided for them in the signal posts.  On Saturday, Palmer followed that custom, left them in the lamp-room for a short time, and it is thought possible that during his absence one of the lamps may have exploded.  In the room at the time was a can containing between one and two gallons of oil, which when ignited materially helped the rapid spread of the fire.'

'Immediately on discovery of the outbreak the porters and others, under the direction of Mr Fitzgerald, the stationmaster, threw buckets of water into the lamp-room, without, however, arresting the progress of the flames.  Meanwhile, Mr G Glinn, chief goods clerk, ran with all haste for the fire engine, and the fire alarm being given by the ringing of the Church bells, the brigade, under the superintendence of Mr G Merrifield, were promptly on the scene with their engine and hoses.  By that time the flames had spread with alarming rapidity, enveloping the greater part of the building.  The fire was burning with great fierceness in the lamp-room and adjoining apartments, also extending to the main roof spanning the railway.  Without delay the brigade attached two hoses to a hydrant in the Whitchurch-road, and directed one against the exterior of the building, and with the other played upon the interior, whilst the engine procured a supply of water from the tank from which the railway engines are fed, and its hose was directed to checking the spread of the flames along the main roof.  Unfortunately the supply for the engine became exhausted in a quarter of an hour, and the brigade had then to fight the fire with only two hoses.  For these there was a good supply of water.'

'The peculiar construction of the station buildings, as well as the materials comprising them, aided the development of the fire, and increased the difficulty of the firemen in suppressing it.  The partitions separating the several apartments were not carried up to the roof, between which and the ceilings was an opening extending the whole length of the building, and communicating with the lamp-room.  In this opening over the ceilings some hundreds of books and other documents -- the accumulation of station records of years --were stored, and the flames, fed upon such combustible material, swept along this space as though a funnel, bursting through the ceilings of the waiting-rooms, parcels' office, and refreshment room.  To make matters worse, a stiff breeze blew from the direction of the lamp-room, along the station buildings, fanning the flames.  Against all these disadvantageous circumstances the brigade for some time struggled in vain.  Finding that it was futile to attempt to save the western portion of the station, they directed their efforts towards preventing the spread of the fire to the footbridge, and thence to the goods department.  With that object they made a gap in the roof over the line at a point where the fire had not not [sic] reached, whilst four or five of their number mounted the roof of the burning buildings, and directed the hoses through holes made in it on to the flames beneath.  At the same time a gang of men, under Mr Cox, permanent way foreman, removed a portion of the woodwork connecting the footbridge with the main building.'

'From eight to nine o'clock the fire was at its height, and the scene at that time was very impressive.  Two thirds of the station buildings extending as far as the booking offices were then in full blaze, flames were sweeping over the remainder of the structure, the fire had obtained a strong hold of the roof crossing the line, had extended to the woodwork on the north side of the railway, and both platforms, which are of wood, were alight at the western end.  Now and then portions of roof would collapse, carrying with them huge beams of timber, sending up immense showers of sparks and embers.  A large concourse of spectators lines the Whitchurch-road, and occupied other points from which the fire could be viewed.  After nine o'clock the water discharged upon the structure began to tell, and although the fire continued to retain a strong hold upon the portions already alight, it became evident that its extension further could be prevented, and the footbridge and goods department preserved intact.  One of the hoses was directed upon the main roof, the western portion of which, to a length of 40 feet, soon after ten o'clock fell in upon the permanent way, carrying with it three of the iron principals which supported it.  It was a comparatively easy matter afterwards to check the progress of the fire along the main roof, though in other portions it burnt through.'

'Large beams of burning wood lay across the permanent way, and to prevent the longitudinals from igniting a party of men under Mr Cox, by means of a chain and rope, removed many of them to a distance.  Whilst they were hauling one of the heavy burning batlks (sic) out from among the débris, a labourer named John Warren, living at Wilminstone Cottages, near Tavistock, who had volunteered assistance, slipped underneath, and the weight of the timber falling upon him, broke his thigh.'

'Earlier in the evening an accident occurred to James Waldron, a painter, of Tavistock.  With other willing helpers he assisted in saving many of the portable contents of the building, and was engaged in removing a heavy bookcase from Messrs W H Smith and Company's stall, when it toppled over on him, breaking his leg.  Both sufferers were promptly conveyed to the recently-established cottage hospital at Tavistock, where yesterday they were reported to be progressing satisfactorily.  Several of the firemen and navvies received flesh cuts from fragments of broken glass falling upon them, and one or two also received burns.  By eleven o'clock the fire was well under control, but the hoses were kept playing upon the debris until a quarter past one yesterday morning, when Mr Merrifield and Mr Smith made a careful examination of the place, and found that the outbreak had been completely subdued.  (The) whole of the station buildings on the down platform had been practically destroyed (sic).  From the lamp-room to the first class waiting-room, quite two thirds of its length, the structure was burnt to the ground, three chimney stacks alone standing.  The eastern end of the structure, comprising the parcels' office and refreshment-room, remained standing, but was damaged by fire and water that it will have to be pulled down and the station premises entirely rebuilt.  Besides the collapse of a portion of the main roof covering the permanent way, the up platform for a distance of 30 feet and the down platform for 60 feet were burnt through, the fire having crept underneath the latter.'

'The permanent way itself is fortunately uninjured.  Trains passing through Tavistock on Saturday evening were taken by a siding through the goods department on the north side of the up platform, and though the traffic was necessarily delayed in consequence, it was not seriously impeded, arrangements for facilitating it being carried out by Inspector Chamberlain.  At an early stage of the fire, a telegraph pole on the up platform was in danger of catching, but telegraphic communication was preserved by sawing the pole through at its base, and removing it many feet into the goods yard without detaching the wires.'

'All the current books at the station were saved, together with the cases containing the tickets in use.  Large numbers of other tickets, however, stored in drawers for future issue, were destroyed.  Most of the contents of the refreshment bar were saved, and the loss the lessees (the Misses B and D Williams) have sustained is covered by insurance in the Sun Office.  The damage to the station buildings is estimated at from £1,500 to £2,000.'

Yesterday Mr P J Margary, local engineer; Mr Avery, goods superintendent; Mr Compton, traffic superintendent; and Mr Luke, chief inspector of the permanent way, spent sometime at the station examining into the extent of the destruction wrought.  Under the supervision of Mr Luke and Mr Cox, a gang of men were employed the whole day clearing away the débris and putting the station into a state of temporary repair.  Both the breaches made in the platforms were filled in with stone and rubble, and by evening the trains were able to resume running through the station proper.  Temporary booking offices are to be erected and other means taken for minimising the inconvenience which is certain to be experienced in conducting the traffic for some little time to come.'