The day the lighthouse burnt down
So we did some historical investigation on our current home and discovered it burnt down in 1822. The article we discovered relating to the tragedy of the family who perished in the fire was so incredibly interesting and haunting that we thought it was well worth sharing. If anything it's an excellent reminder to check your smoke alarms (given they have now been invented) - the presence of a smoke alarm would have saved the entire family.
How the house looks today:
This is the haunting newspaper article we discovered relating to the fire that destroyed the lighthouse (the last coal fired lighthouse in Britain) in 1822. The house was subsequently rebuilt in 1865 and still stands today.
London, Jan 25 1822
Melancholy Catastrophe - On Saturday last, inquests were held before the
Coroner, at Tarnflat, in Sandwith, Cumberland, on the bodies of Mary Clark
and her five children, who were found dead the preceding evening in the
Light-house, on St. Bees Head, and the Jury returned verdicts -" Died by
suffocation ." It appeared in evidence that the bed and bed-clothes in which
the mother and four of the children were lying were on fire, and the smoke
arising from the fire filling that apartment, and ascending to the room
above it, where another child was sleeping, had occasioned the death of
these unfortunate individuals. The father of the family was found lying upon
the floor, alive, but in so precarious a state that his life is despaired
of. It is conjectured, that owing to the current of air under the door
circulating more freely where he was found than where his unfortunate family
slept, he was preserved from sharing their fate. It did not appear in what
manner the bed and bed-clothes caught fire. The cause of this disastrous
catastrophe seems to be inadequate to its effect; the flame had not burst
forth, the curtains surrounding the bed were not burnt, and only one of the
children had any marks of fire upon its body! The father remains insensible,
consequently can give no information how this awful occurrence, which has
deprived his wife and all their children of their lives, originated ; but it
appears that all the members of the family must have been asleep, or one
member of it would have aroused and saved the whole. St. Bees light-house
is situate on one of the boldest and loftiest eminences bordering this
Channel, and its inhabitants in their domicile are separated from almost all
intercourse with man; the only visible neighbour from it is the
newly-erected farm-building at Tarnflat. The tenant of this estate and his
servants, observing on Friday night that the light was not apparent as
usual, went to the
light-house, and the accident was thus discovered.
Melancholy Catastrophe - On Saturday last, inquests were held before the
Coroner, at Tarnflat, in Sandwith, Cumberland, on the bodies of Mary Clark
and her five children, who were found dead the preceding evening in the
Light-house, on St. Bees Head, and the Jury returned verdicts -" Died by
suffocation ." It appeared in evidence that the bed and bed-clothes in which
the mother and four of the children were lying were on fire, and the smoke
arising from the fire filling that apartment, and ascending to the room
above it, where another child was sleeping, had occasioned the death of
these unfortunate individuals. The father of the family was found lying upon
the floor, alive, but in so precarious a state that his life is despaired
of. It is conjectured, that owing to the current of air under the door
circulating more freely where he was found than where his unfortunate family
slept, he was preserved from sharing their fate. It did not appear in what
manner the bed and bed-clothes caught fire. The cause of this disastrous
catastrophe seems to be inadequate to its effect; the flame had not burst
forth, the curtains surrounding the bed were not burnt, and only one of the
children had any marks of fire upon its body! The father remains insensible,
consequently can give no information how this awful occurrence, which has
deprived his wife and all their children of their lives, originated ; but it
appears that all the members of the family must have been asleep, or one
member of it would have aroused and saved the whole. St. Bees light-house
is situate on one of the boldest and loftiest eminences bordering this
Channel, and its inhabitants in their domicile are separated from almost all
intercourse with man; the only visible neighbour from it is the
newly-erected farm-building at Tarnflat. The tenant of this estate and his
servants, observing on Friday night that the light was not apparent as
usual, went to the
light-house, and the accident was thus discovered.
Credit for the artwork: Dawn Mills, a talented artist and ex-tenant
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