The Meadowgate fire of 1922

The morning after the fire

The red brick property at the Meadowgate corner in North Street has been in commercial use ever since it was built circa 1870. By the turn of the century, one part in Meadowgate was being used as a general grocery stores run by Henry Kisby and the other fronting North Street as a ladies and gents' tailoring shop run by Mr Richard Newton Pattison. But on the night of Tuesday 28th November 1922, a fire broke out on the premises and soon spread to both shops.

The blaze was spotted soon after 11 pm by Police Constable Tasker who was on patrol duty in the vicinity. He aroused Mr Kisby and then rushed down to the Town Hall to ring the fire bell.

Mr Kisby, his wife and children, had retired at about 10.30 pm while Mr Pattison and his family had gone to bed somewhat earlier in the shop premises next door. They too were aroused by the blaze and found their rooms filled with smoke from the premises next door. All of the occupants escaped but most of them were scantily clad, the younger children of both families having scarcely any clothing and no footwear, but no one was injured.

The fire brigade arrived within about 20 minutes of the bell being rung by the constable but only four firemen accompanied the steamer, one of two appliances with which the brigade was equipped. A number of onlookers who had congregated outside to watch the blaze immediately dashed down North Street to collect the second appliance which was manually operated but as there were no firemen present who understood how to connect the water hose to the engine, there was a considerable delay while the fire was burning furiously.

It took half an hour to get the engine to work and by this time, there was no hope of saving the building and the brigade turned their attention to the adjoining property. But their efforts were hampered by a strong wind which fanned the flames and they were still at the scene at 7 am the following morning. Both properties and their contents were destroyed, leaving only a burned out shell.

Mr Pattison had moved to the shop only a few years before, having previously occupied premises in Willoughby Road, and unfortunately, he was not insured and was declared bankrupt although he continued tailoring for a time from a room in the Angel Hotel. A public subscription list was opened in the town to help him over his financial difficulties. He was, incidentally, also the town's bandmaster, having been appointed only the year before when the Bourne Town Band was re-formed. Mr Kisby was more fortunate in that he had taken out insurance although he never resumed business at the same address.

The building stood empty for some years and was eventually sold as a derelict and fire damaged property to Mr William Owen Woolf who had moved to the town from Essex in 1928. He rebuilt the premises as Woolf's Garage with petrol pumps on the pavement and a shop devoted to car parts and accessories. The garage continued in business for 70 years, expanding on a new site across the street in 1935 and when Mr Woolf died on 23rd January 1947 at the age of 53, the business was taken over by his son Norman. After his death, the business was sold to the Esso petroleum company in March 1994 for £96,000 and is now a 24-hour service station with an attached supermarket run by Tesco. The Meadowgate premises continued as a car accessories shop until the sale but from 1994 stood disused and boarded up for several years awaiting a buyer and the property has now been sold and converted into flats.

William Woolfe outside his garage

REVISED APRIL 2006