One hundred and twenty years ago, New Street was much longer and more densely populated that it is today and included the cul-de-sac we now call Church Close.

Much of the street comprised long lines of thatched, chalk-walled terraces, standing either side of the road, with front doors opening onto the street.

Some of these cottages would have dated back to the 16th and 17th centuries and historically the street had long been home to the labouring workforce of the town.

In the 19th century it included four pubs, two schools, seven shops, a blacksmith and a mission hall.

On the night of Easter Monday, 8 April 1901, it suffered a disastrous fire when the thatched roof of a farm building, adjacent to the Blacksmith’s Arms at the bottom of the street, caught light and spread to the roof of the pub.

The landlady ran for her life, after retrieving her deed box and the evening’s takings, but the fire continued to spread, fanned by the strong wind that carried clusters of burning thatch to nearby houses, including those across the street, known as Ball’s Cottages.

Thankfully, everyone managed to get out of their houses safely and join the crowd of spectators who watched the searing archway of flames spread across the street, engulfing the two rows of thatched cottages that faced each other from opposite sides of the road.

In vain the victims looked for the fire brigade which failed to arrive.

Much could be blamed on the archaic method of calling the brigade out: on hearing of a fire somebody would rush to the Guildhall, slide back a wooden panel in one of the front windows and then pull the hanging rope inside to ring the fire bell.

That did happen on this occasion, but the direction of the wind meant that most of the volunteer firemen did not hear it.

One arrived and then another two, but it was several hours before they were all alerted and by then seventeen cottages, the pub and some farm buildings had been destroyed.

Another impediment was that the night-time water pressure from the mains was so weak that water from the hosepipe could not reach the roofs.

Eighty inhabitants lost everything they owned and were given temporary shelter around the town and in the Mission Room hall.

A fund was started to relieve the distress and within a fortnight £442 had been raised.

One lady of the town paid for anyone left bare-footed to be given a new pair of boots.

The borough council faced most of the criticism.

An ingrained parsimony had prevented modernisation of the fire-fighting equipment and the failure to install an efficient method of raising the brigade was paramount.

A steam driven pump ordered six months before did not arrive until a month after the fire.

Matters had to change and by late 1902 a system of electric bells had been installed in the homes of each fireman, so that anyone going to the new fire station in East Street could raise the alarm and the brigade would respond in minutes.

By then the new steam pump had arrived which was kept at the fire station.

In addition, an automatic call to the waterworks was instituted so that, in the event of fire, the water pressure in the mains could be raised to provide sufficient water from the street fire hydrants.