HOWICK HALL GUTTED
Howick Hall, the Northumberland home of Earl and Countess Grey, was partly gutted by fire early on Tuesday morning.
Earl Grey discovered the outbreak about 3am in a room above his bedroom. He gave the alarm promptly and saw to the safety of Countess Grey and his daughter, the lady Elizabeth, the only daughter at home. Countess Grey has been confined to her room with cold for several days, and she was found accommodation in the servants’ quarters in the west wing which, with the east wing, was saved from the flames.
Earl Grey, the lady Elizabeth, and the members of the household staff and estate worked heroically with the fire appliances available to save the Hall, but the flames spread too rapidly, and by the time the Fire and Rescue Brigade from Ashington arrived nothing much remained of the main hall but its stone walls.
FIRE FIGHTERS DELAYED
The Ashington Brigade under Chief Officer F. P. Mills had an unlucky experience. The fog was so thick they could only crawl along the roads, and the fire had been burning three hours at least when they arrived at the hall. Earl Grey believes that most of the valuable pictures and other works of art on the ground floor have been saved, but the drawing room, the breakfast room, the Chinese room, the Italian room, the library, the central and inner halls and eight bedrooms and dressing rooms have been destroyed. Classic volumes were saved from the library, and the Italian room, distinguished for its wood carving and panelling, was not involved in the conflagration before the major portion of its removable contents were placed in safety.
The utmost sympathy is felt for Earl and Countess Grey in the loss of their beautiful home. They had intended going to London on Monday, nut had cancelled their arrangements in view of the Countess’s indisposition.
It is singular that the Northumberland homes of families bearing the same distinguished names should both have been destroyed by fire. Fallodon, the seat of Viscount Grey Fallodon, it will be recalled, was burnt to the ground on May 2nd, 1917.
Beside a water heating apparatus on the top floor, it is believed, the flames originated, and they had obtained a very good hold before earl Grey was aroused by the noise of burning material.
The butler, Mr J. J. Garlick, who has been at Howick only six months, and a chauffeur named Lowery, who were among the first to respond to the clanging of the alarm bell, tell how Earl Grey organised the fire-fighting force of the hall which included a manual engine and superintended operations in the removal of the more valuable works of art and furniture.
“t was amazing how quickly it spread. By half-past three the flames were right through the rook,” said the butler. The water supply was good and the hoses were brought to bear on the flames at every available point, but the destruction went on space until in a short time the whole of the top floor made a beacon light in a mist-enshrouded countryside, so that volunteers came streaming in from all parts of the estate. As soon as it was realised that the fire could not be brought under control Earl Grey directed the removal of the furnishings and valuables from the ground floor, and this work was accomplished with great expedition by members of the household staff and volunteers from the estate, and the villages of Howick and Craster.
“We might not have been able to have saved the contents of the ground floor even, “ said Mr J. Wright, the head gardener, “ only the two huge cisterns containing thousands of gallons of water, at the top of the house, came right down, and subdued the flames for a quarter of an hour or so, just long enough to give us time to remove the valuables,” He regretted that two beautiful tapestries in the inner hall were amongst the works of art lost, and it was hoped at one time that the Italian room, which was distinguished by notable carvings, might be saved. It was burnt out to a shell, however.
In the inner hall, destroyed by fire were two large pictures by Northcote- “The Disobedient Prophet,” and “Daniel in the Lions’ Den.” In other rooms were also valuable paintings and portraits, including Sir A. Calcott’s “Rotterdam”; Martin’s “Nymph Bathing”; Thompson’s “Lady Mary Wood as a Child”; the late “Earl Grey,” by Lawrence; “The Emperor Napoleon,” painted during the Hundred Days. The bees on the frame were taken from the Emperor’s Throne. Northcote’s “The last Sleep of Argyle”; Lawrence’s “The late Countess Grey, with Lady Durham and Lady E. Bulteel as Children,” and others.
