In 1904, Saltburn Convalescent Home became Silcoates School
During the fire
Silcoates School was a Congregational School established 1831 in Silcoates near Wakefield. The school was destroyed by a serious fire. For a short time the school was held in a small hotel in Harrogate before coming to the Convalescent Home at Saltburn which was standing empty. At the time of the fire the school was closed for holiday, the 80 boys were all at home and the headmaster was on holiday in Switzerland the school being left in the care of the Matron and domestic staff. On Wednesday, April 13th 1904 one of the servants noticed an ominous light streaming from one of the windows of the Middle storey of the school building, which was used as a dormitory. The alarm was raised and two porters arrived at the scene. Despite the use of chemical extinguishers and water, they failed to control the fire mainly because most of the woodwork was pitch pine causing the fire to spread rapidly throughout the building. The sky was illuminated for miles, and crowds of people quickly assembled. News of the fire was conveyed to Mr Robinson, the Hon. Secretary, by telephone from Wakefield Police Station. Mr Robinson was also told that although the serious nature of the fire was known to Wakefield Fire Brigade, the captain of the Fire Brigade could not send the powerful Wakefield Steamer and its crew on account of a resolution of the City Council that the Brigade could not go outside the city boundary and an appeal to the chairman of Wakefield Watch committee also resulted in a refusal to allow the brigade to attend the fire. When Mr Robinson arrived at the school at midnight he found the school to be hopelessly doomed. A quantity of hose had been sent but the water from the delivery nozzle was only sufficient to throw a stream of water about one foot high, such was the altitude of the school that no workable pressure from the 3” main could be expected. A messenger was sent on a bicycle to Wakefield Police Station to telephone for help from Dewsbury. The Dewsbury men arrived with three horses and a steamer at about 2.00am. There was disappointment to find that there 4
After the fire
At Saltburn, the school circa 1905
was not enough hose to reach the 3” main, so men began carrying water in buckets with a view to saving the headmaster’s house; this failed because of the lack of water pressure. Much of the headmaster’s furniture was saved but practically everything in the school had been destroyed including the fine organ which was reduced to ashes. The organ had been presented by Sir George Newnes. The total damage was estimated at £12,000 (today £1.2 million). There were some interesting comments in the October 1904 school magazine about the Saltburn Convalescent Home. Relating to the dining hall: “it was likened to a monastic refectory and the corridor tiles are orientally magnificent, and just lovely for sliding on. A comment on the real live clock in the tower was that it had unconventional views on the progress of time and does all the striking for the day in one solid chunk. At other times it goes on strike and does not strike at all.” When at Saltburn the school made use of the football field directly opposite and played against the local Saltburn teams. They also made use of the cricket field and travelled to Redcar to use the Laboratory in Coatham Grammar School. The School was eventually rebuilt at Wakefield and opened on 1st October 1908 and today is a thriving independent school for both boys and girls. The Saltburn building was re-opened as a Convalescent Home by the WCIU on 11th September 1909. Many thanks to Phil Swann, Silcoates’ Archivist for the exchange of information. Cath and Tony Lynn