The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-06 00:00:00

The Fire at Colonel Ittliurdo's.

appointedfollowing
ynt
oht
the
en
particulars of the lament•
yesterdaycatastrophe,eregeef to record the destruction of the palatial man-
sionin our impression of
cG:odvernment. Every belonging to Col. M'lqueao, the Inspector-General of
Volunteers,
ablevirT The
antiquated large building, with a
passen-
ger by the steamboats must have witnessed in passing up
thatched roof and immense gardens and greenhouses sur-
rounding it. It was in this building
that the disaster com-
menced. It should be stated that the mansion contained
from 18 to 20 rooms, some of theta of
the river Thames an anti
great size, the priu-
cipal reception rooms being nearly 40 feet long, and was
most gorgeously furnished, and
the walls hung
with pictures of some of our greatest military
heroes, and other subjects. The rich tapestry and
articles of vertu that adorned this
Portion of the building
were worth some thousand Pounds sterling, whilst the
drawing rooms and other apartments were fitted up in the
same costly manner; but nothing new w remain of any por-
tion of the building except somel of the walls, and of the
richly carved furniture scarcey. a vestige can be seen, ex-
ceptsa masses of iron
the mis-shapand brasswork which
can be detected lying here and there amongst the still
smoking debris.
At the time of the outbreak, twelve o'clock at noon,
there were at work two gardeners in the
grounds, and
two females in the mansion, the colonel and his
lady being from home at the time. All of a sudden one
of the gardeners perceived smoke rising from the
thatched roof nearest the river ;
a-de, which was imme-
diately afterwards followed by a large sheet of flame
bursting through it into the air. An alarm was im-
mediately given, and the servants and the gardeners
made an attempt to remove
to the valuable pictures and some
of the furniture, but owing the dry state of the thatch
the fire spread completely over the whole of the roof, and
burning particles falling upon the floor before the latter
became ignited, and the fire dropped into the lower floor
ea rapidly that every room became fired in a space of time
so brief that, comparatively speaking, scarcely au y article
of value could be carried out before the lives of those en- 1
gaged in their praiseworthy etl )rts became jeopardised, 1
and they in consequeuee were obliged to leave everytbilq. I
to its fate. Three parish engines quickly arrived, fel-
lowed by the Brigade engines from town, under the
direction of Mr Engineer IlantlYn. The engines were
taken to the banks of the Thames and set to work, but
it at once became apparent that the mansion and its
treasures were doomed to destruction, and the firemen
therefore exerted themselves in endeavouring, if possible,
to save the vinery, greenhouses, and conservatories, and to
some extent they were successful. The damage done to
the choice exotics and other scarce plants, it is feared, will
prove fatal, for the heat in which place was like a burning
furnace. Meanwhile the flames continued to mount high
above the tops of the opposite houses, and all of a sudden
a loud and fearful crash was heard which upon
inquiry was found to Kaye Well caused by the