Shortly before one o’clock in the morning fire was discovered in one of four cottages that abutted the rear of the Vine Branch public house (The Waverley). A messenger was despatched to Newport from where the Borough Fire Brigade responded with their horsedrawn manual fire engine.
Superintendent Charles Osborne and his firemen arrived to find a dramatic situation, worsened by a lack of water (no hydrants having been installed in Carisbrooke). Water drawn from the well of the Cutter’s Arms, little more than a stone’s throw away, soon petered out as the fire spread from the cottage of origin into the Vine Branch from where the exploding of liquor bottles was heard.
Unable to combat the flames from lack of water, under Osborne’s direction the brigade was able to save the landlady and her daughters by ladder from an upstairs window, whilst her elder son with a small child under each arm made an incredible leap to safety from 20’, all three completing the feat without injury. With all lives accounted for (the landlord being in London at the time) the IW Observer reported that – ‘The whole of the buildings was razed to the ground by 8 o’clock in the morning’.
Village constable Mr Whitlock was praised for his indefatigable work throughout, both in direct assistance to the brigade and relief for those displaced by the fire. The loss of the public house was covered by insurance but for the displaced cottagers who had lost virtually everything the venerated William Spickernell arranged subscriptions and by midday the following day had raised £10.
Footnote – the ‘horsedrawn manual fire engine’ used at this fire has since been restored and is today on display inside the fire service training centre at Ryde. Further detail concerning this engine and its history can be viewed in the IW Fire Brigades Federation website - https://www.iwfbf.co.uk/special-features/built-to-last-shand-mason-engine-1873
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