Object number
51/410
Creator
Description
This is a one horse, two piston wooden fire engine, painted green with red trim, from Banham in Norfolk. It was called the ‘Banham Subscription Fire Engine’ and was funded by the parish. It was worked by 12 men and was known as a ‘double sixer’. The engine was made by Tilley (later Shand Mason) of Blackfriars Road, London, in 1839 and was in use in the village until 1934 when it was replaced by a motor fire engine. The donor's father bought it to use on his farm in case of rick fires, and during World War II it was put beside the farm bond in case of incendiary bombs.
Physical description
1 fire engine: wood; metal; fair condition[cont'd] inscription: 'Banham Subscription Engine 1839', and on nameplate: 'Tilley, Blackfriars Road, London'
Archival history
MERL miscellaneous note – 'The machine was called the “Banham Subscription Fire Engine” and it was in commission up to 1934. It was housed in a shed next to the village school. The fire engine was, it seems, the main charge on the parish funds. A chief engineer and two assistants were paid a retaining free of 6/- per annum each. In addition, there was a regular bill of 1/6 for grease. // If the engine was not used during the year it was the responsibility of the chief engineer every Good Friday to get the engine out to the village pond and there to test it with the help of a total of twelve men, six on each side, and they were content when they had reached the top of the poplar trees which are about as high as a telegraph pole. Good Friday was chosen as this was the only day, other than Sunday, on which the men were free. // The rate of pay was increased to 1/6 due to a strike in 1905 when the chief engineer free-wheeled the engine down to the pond expecting the men to turn out, but this they refused to do and so the chief and his two assistants were forced to man handle the engine back up the hill to the accompaniment of the laughs and jeers of the villagers. // This annual event was a great function and all the village children used to gather and it seems that a terrific cheer or loud boo would go up according to whether the water issued forth or not. // The trouble with the engine is the fact that the suction screw pipes are only 36’ long. This resulted in a disaster when the local cider works went up in flames. The pipes were not long enough and it was necessary to put the end of the pipe in a cider barrel and replenish with the help of a chain of buckets from a nearby trough.// The last time the engine was used in all seriousness was in 1930 when it was hauled out to douse a fire in an “old man’s lavatory”. After much struggling it arrived at the scene of the conflagration only to find that the fire had been quenched by the aforesaid old man, who explained the he had put it out with a bucket of water. // The engine was felt to be too much of a burden on the rate payers in 1934. Therefore, when nearby Wymondham got a motor fire engine, it was disposed of and Mr. Rout’s father bought it to have handy in case of rick fires. It languished in the farmer’s barn till 1940 when it was brought out and put beside the farm pond “in case of incendiary bombs”.', The accession file describes this as a two horse engine, not a one horse engine. It also includes a photo of the engine with a member of the crew that operated it, and hand drawn annotated diagrams explaining the operation with dimensions. [Added by Tim Jerrome for the Further Afield project, 2024]
Production place
Blackfriars Road [Southwark]
Production date
1839 - 1839
Object name
Material
Associated subject
Associated person/institution
External document
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