marvellous Monmouth and ... the history of fire!

Every day in marvellous Monmouth I pass the sparkling fire station on the Rockfield Road

all photos copyright Roo 2013

with its bright red doors...but it got me thinking was this Monmouth's history of fire...or did it start elsewhere...time for a time trail around Monmouth, I think...

 

seems it all started under the Shire Hall arches, with Monmouth's first fire service starting out here with three ladders and a leather bucket - and not one red, shiny door in sight!  Things moved on in 1733, with the purchase of a small fire engine which was housed in the Jury Room of the Shire Hall.  Later engines were kept at Troy House.  But with the council shamed after some v bad fires with people dying, a fire station was first made in Whitecross Street.

then next came a station at St Mary's Street (which today is still being used by St John's Ambulance)

and the fire trail then leads back to the spanking, red quarters on the Rockfield Road!

but the great thing I found about this trail is Monmouth hasn't erradicated signs of its past, its kept momentos of its history of fire on the buildings which use to house its old fire stations.  St Mary's street has kept its fire sign and garage structure, and Whitecross Street has kept its garage structure too!  Monmouth just uses these momentos to make the buildings more quirky and cute - it never forgets its history, just recycles it to make the future!

Roo