English Martyrs' Fire

On Friday 11th August 2000, at approximately 1.45 in the morning Fr Danson was awoken by firemen, the presbytery porch was by then filled with dense smoke. A passer by had alerted staff at Kenmure Lodge who, in turn, alerted the Fire Brigade.

The fire was started in Fr Peter’s confessional, went up into the roof void above the cloister and had from there spread. It burned through the confessional door into the church. Firemen had to break through the roof into the Memorial Chapel to get at the fire, causing considerable damage in there. All the confessionals, candle-box, the room next to the Chapel were burnt out.  The assessment of the damage was in excess of £200,000.

During the following months, Sunday Masses continued to be held in the church, weekday Masses in the Music Room. The Cloister had to be sealed off, from the double doors to the far end, and entry to the Sacristy was made via the door from the garden.

English Martyrs' received many offers of help from parishioners and neighbouring clergy during this event and there was a  real community spirit among the congregation.

As in all things, God found a way to turn the disaster to opportunity; the destruction caused by the fire enabled the area to be reconstructed to form a more useful social room (St Thomas' Room) where the old confessionals were previously situated. See below.

 

PLAN OF THE CHURCH

í Before  the
       fire 

             î
  After the fire         

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The blue areas show the structural alterations.

Before the fire, 5 confessionals were positioned down the left hand side of the church, these were taken out, the corridor door repositioned further back along the corridor, and the St Thomas' Room, along with two disabled toilets (with baby changing facilities) and a kitchen.

There is now just one confessional, shown again in blue, on the right hand side of the church.
 

An 'Eyewitness Account' by Margaret Harrison

Fr Peter went on holiday in August, the schools were closed and there was the annual lull in parish events, but this was the calm before the storm.  At about 1.30am on Friday 11th August, I heard a commotion and, looking through the window of my house at the rear of the church, I saw a fire appliance and hoses being unrolled into the garden.  I hurriedly dressed and went round to Garstang Road where there were three more appliances.

An arsonist had climbed through the cleaning cupboard window and set fire to St Peter's confessional.  The flames had spread through the roof space to the Chapel, destroying all the confessionals, cupboards and the cloister.  The church and the presbytery were full of acrid smoke but, thankfully, no-one was hurt.  The fire had just begun to spread into the church and the Fire Officer said that in another ¼ hour the whole church would have gone up in flames.

I told a police officer that Fr Danson was asleep upstairs and he rang him on his mobile, requesting him to come to his bedroom window as there was an incident.  Father must have been shocked to see the flames shooting into the night sky and a fireman on a high turntable ladder.  Two firemen went upstairs to bring him down, but he led them down the back staircase which was smoke free.

Later the Fire Officer asked if breakfast could be provided for the 40 firemen so Fr Danson and I made trays of toast and mugs of tea. We repeated this performance an hour later and we felt glad to be busy.  This was a lasting memory of that night.

At 6am Fr Danson rang Fr Peter in France and I rang Simon Gillespie and Mr Hills, our Insurance Advisor. Then I remained in the office all day to send the church documents for drying and restoring, to see the Detectives and Insurance Assessors and to speak on Radio Lancashire.  Neighbouring churches kindly offered their sympathy and help.

Months of work followed the fire. Estimates were obtained and an Insurance claim submitted The church had to be redecorated as the acid in the smoke  had harmed the decorations. The builders were called in and 'English Heritage', 'Listed Buildings' and Preston City Council notified. The weekday Masses were transferred to the Music Room.

Disclaimer:   The contents of this website are provided in good faith and are not necessarily the views of the website authors, (St Thomas of Canterbury & the English Martyrs, Preston),  the Diocese, the Catholic Church or any other implied body.  The website authors are not responsible for any content of external websites linked to this site or material submitted by website visitors and users.  Your suggestions and views on the site content are welcomed and visitors are encouraged to communicate their comments to us. A comments page is included in this website and all legitimate or appropriate comments (and responses) will be posted for viewing.  All materials submitted to this site are carefully screened prior to publication; however, we apologise for any unforeseen offence or distress caused by any material contained herein.