Over the years Salisbury has suffered the destruction caused by the ravages of fire.

Salisbury Stream Laundry twice succumbed to terrible fires in 1892 and 1922.

The Invicta Leather Works in Endless Street was burnt down in 1901 and the English Clock Factory in Tolgate Road was totally destroyed by a fire in 1909.

In more recent times many will remember the fires at the Maltings and The White Hart Hotel.

In the 19th century towns and villages began forming their own volunteer brigades, with manual fire pumps.

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Salisbury Fire Station in 1907 (Image: Contributed) I remember seeing an example of one of these at Salisbury Museum and another, which I believe is kept in St Giles Church in Great Wishford, is possibly the oldest in Britain.

This was purchased by the churchwardens of Wishford Magna in 1728 for £33.

The Salisbury Municipal Fire Brigade was formed in 1853 and included a superintendent (William Pearce), a deputy superintendent and 18 firemen.

Appliances featured a horse-drawn seven-inch manual pump, 700 ft of leather hose and a selection of ladders.

Then in 1886 the first steam fire engine was bought, this being horse-drawn with a boiler and steam-driven pump.

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Later a new volunteer force of 24 men was formed to replace the original crew, and this remained active until brigades were nationalised on the outbreak of the war in 1939.

Around 1913 Salisbury purchased its first motor fire engine. It was fitted with a rear-mounted 360 gallon-per-minute pump plus a 30-gallon water tank – it also carried 150 feet of hose and a 50 ft wheeled escape ladder.

Salisbury has had two fire stations. The first was opened in Salt Lane in 1907 at a cost of £1,700 and it remained in use until our current station in Ashley Road was opened in 1964.