GUESTS fled in their nightclothes when part of the Crown Hotel in Faringdon caught fire.

Damage costing tens of thousands of pounds was caused to the 16th-century building when the blaze swept through one wing in November 1973.

Four guests were evacuated, two of them losing all their possessions.

We were reminded of the emergency by Bill Law, who is the fireman at the top of the ladder.

The Oxford Mail reported: “The fire started shortly before 6am and within 10 minutes, a large section of the first floor of the wing at the rear of the 23-bedroomed hotel was blazing fiercely.

“When the brigade from Faringdon arrived, a large section of the roof was also well alight.”

Crews from Reading, Wantage and Bampton reinforced the Faringdon brigade, and a turntable ladder from Swindon was also sent.

The hotel had changed hands two weeks earlier and new owner Hugh Corbett and manager Trustram Eve had been discussing new fire precautions for the building.

Mr Eve, alerted to the blaze by one of his staff, said: “I rushed downstairs and into the courtyard. I could see flames through some of the upstairs windows. Mr Corbett had also been awakened. While one of our staff phoned for the brigade, we roused guests and staff.”

The Faringdon brigade was at the scene within four minutes, but by then, the guests – two married couples – had been evacuated.

Mr Eve added: “Fortunately, the fire had not got too strong a hold and we were able to get everyone out safely, although one couple lost all their clothes.”

Days earlier, a staff member and her son had moved from a bedroom above the kitchen, where it was thought the fire started. This room was destroyed in the blaze.

One of the guests, Brian Baker, from London, said: “I opened the bedroom door and was met by thick smoke. I woke my wife and we managed to throw on a few clothes.”

Oxford Mail:

  •  Emergency crews at the front of the hotel

More than 20 firemen fought the fire and managed to confine it to one wing. A huge pall of smoke rose over Faringdon as a large section of the wing roof caved it.

Later, Sub-Officer George Cornwell, who led the Faringdon brigade, received a letter from Mr K C Bridges, Chief Fire Officer for Berkshire and Reading (Faringdon was then in Berkshire), commending him and his men on the way they tackled the fire.

Mr Law, who lives in Faringdon, tells me: “In my 33 years as a retained firefighter at Faringdon, this was one of only two occasions when I lost a whole day from my primary employment due to fire calls.”

Other members of the Faringdon crew that day were Leading Fireman Jack Fox, Leading Fireman Maurice Woolford, and firemen Desmond Ball, Christopher Cornwell and possibly Peter Rideout.