Destructive Farmstead fire near Ferryhill

I'm always writing about Ferryhill's railways and collieries and industry, and I forget that really, like so much of County Durham, it also has a rural side to its nature. However, this 130-year-old article comes from a very different time with its talk of byres and barley cakes, and I have no idea what a boll was.

Equally, the journalists of 130 years ago had no idea of what a paragraph is. The whole piece is one long slab of text which is difficult enough to read in a 19th Century newspaper but on a 21st Century blog is nigh impossible, so I've taken the liberty of breaking it up.

The Bank of England's Inflation Calculator tells me that £600 in 1879 is worth £58,000 today - a good thing that our farmer was insured.

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Destructive Farmstead fire near Ferryhill

A disastrous fire, attended with great damage, took place at West Close Farm, near Ferryhill, the property of Mr Robert Wilkinson, on Tuesday afternoon. The farm is situate in close proximity to Dene Bridge, Chilton Colliery, and Mr Wilkinson, who is a large property owner, lives at some little distance away, and three hinds live on the premises.

The buildings are quite new.

A long stack of straw ran near to and parallel with the open portion of a large shed or byre. In this byre were some thirty head of prime cattle, and adjacent to the straw stack was a stack containing about 300 bolls of wheat and barley in "cakes", and a stack of old land hay, about forty tons.

The foreman hind, Mr J Tinkler, was in the stackyard, close to the outbuildings, at one o'clock, and all appeared right; and at 1.30 an old man went past the straw into the byre and fed the cattle.

Within an hour of this time a man named John Brixton, a cartman at the colliery, who was leading coals to Chilton, in going up the bank close to the farm observed smoke rising from a smoke stack, which that instant broke out in a flame. He gave an alarm, and Mr Tinkler, the foreman, who was in a field a quarter of a mile distant, also saw the flame and ran to the spot.

The stack was speedily enveloped in flames which, fanned by a strong breeze which was blowing, communicated with the hay and corn stacks. Mr Tinkler, on arriving, at once rushed through the flames, which penetrated to the door of the cowbyre, and let loose the cattle, which came through the flames and were more or less singed, and he himself had his whiskers and hair burnt off, and was severely scorched and burnt about the face, head and arms.

A messenger was at once despatched to the Tudhoe Ironworks, and in due course the admirable little engine and the fire brigade, under Capt. Houlder, were on the spot.

In the meantime Mr Wilkinson (the owner of the farm), Mr Dakers (colliery viewer), and a large number of men from the pit and surrounding district had arrived, and were using their utmost endeavours to check the spread of the fire. The water had to be led from a pond a quarter of a mile distant to supplement the small supply from the colliery nearer at hand in feeding the engine.

The stacks were so completely enveloped in flames that it was useless trying to save them, and efforts were principally directed in saving the buildings, and this was accomplished, only the doors &c., being damaged.

The corn, hay and straw were, however, totally destroyed or rendered useless.

Inspector Fleming, of Spennymoor, and a number of officers were on the spot and kept the best of order.

It has not as yet been ascertained how the fire originated.

The damage which is estimated at about £600, which is, we understand, covered by insurance.