The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-21 00:00:00

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FIRE AZ• WINDSOR OASILE.

WINDSOR, SUNDAY EVENING.
Late last night a fire of the most alarming character
broke out in Windsor Castle, the residence, at this mo-
ment, of her Majesty, his Royal Highness the Prince
Consort, and the royal children, which at one time
threatened to involve in one common ruin the whole of
that ancient and majestic edifice and its vast and varied
interior appointments and decorations, all of them of
singular interest and magnificence, and which, as it is,
has resulted in the partial destruction of a valuable por-
tion of it.
The part of the structure destroyed forms the north-
eastern angle of the castle, and is known as the Prince
of Wales's Tower, which commands an extensive view
for'many Miles round of the richly diversified lands Cape,
extending beyond and including the Home Park, the
Slopes, and the terraces, gardens, and pleasure grounds
to the east, in which the Royal Family are wont to take
daily exercise and recreation during their residence here;
This tower consists of a low basement story, and im-
mediately above that the royal dining-room, an apart-
ment of elegant and lofty proportions, and decorated in
a style of unusual magnificence. This room is flanked
on the one hand by an apartment of an octagonal form
- constituting the principal part of the Brunswick Tower
—and on the other by the Red Drawing-room, all• cm
the same floor. Immediately over the royal dining-room
is a small suite of apartments, consisting
of a sitting and
two bed rooms, which hate been hitherto occupied by
Mr. Norton, the clerk of the kitchen, and one of his as-
sistants, and it was in the vicinity of one of these rooms,
if not in one of them, that the fire first manifested itself.
The Queen, His Royal Highness Prince Albert, ac-
companied by their Royal Highnesses the Prince of
Wales, the Princess Royal, Prince Alfred, the Princesses
Alice, Helena, and Louisa, and Prince Arthur, and their
suite, left Buckingham Palace yesterday afternoon,
about half-past three o'clock, for Windsor Castle, which

they reached within an hour afterwards, travelling by
the Great Western Railway. The Duchess of Welling-
ton, Lady Caroline Barrington, the Han. Eleanor Stan-
ley, the Hon. Beatrice Byng, Lord Camoys, Colonel
Grey, Major-General Berkeley Drummond, Colonel
Bouverie, the Hon. Captain de Ros, and. Mr. Gibbs,
composed the royal suite on the occasion.
About half-past nine o'clock, Colonel Biddulph, the
Master of the Household, and some of the ladies and
gentlemen of the Court; who had dined in the octagonal
room in the Brunswick Tower, observed smoke issuing
from the walls in the vicinity of the fire-place, accom-
panied by a peculiar crackling noise. An alarm was in-
stantly given, and Mr. Turnbull, the clerk of the works,

and several officers and servants of the household, im-
mediately summoned to the spot. On proceeding to the
floor over the dining-room they observed masses of smoke
issuingfrom the floor andskirting-boards of one of the bed-
rooms occupied by Mr. Norton, which in a few moments
more became so intolerably dense and suffocating that
they were unable to remain. They then retired into a
large square lobby, on the same floor, and immediately
contiguous, from whence also they were soon driven
by the immense volume of smoke which now poured
out of the rooms leading into it, and circulated through
all the adjacent apartments. It ought to be here stated
that a series of fire-pipes, constantly charged with a.
plentiful supply of water, are stationed at frequent
intervals, all round the various lobbies and stair-
cases throughout the interior of the Castle. The water
for this service is derived exclusively from a large tank
or reservoir, capable of holding a million gallons, which
was erected for this special purpose a few years ago on
the top of Cranburne-hill, about four miles from the
Castle, and is kept constantly supplied by means of a
large steam engine, which raises the water from the
Thames at a place called Datchet-lane.
The next step taken was to connect the hose with the
various fire pipes in and about the Prince of Wales'
Tower, which was promptly done, and a volume of
water was poured into the rooms from which the smoke
was seen to issue. On ascending to the floor immediately
over that occupied by Mr. Norton, and which consisted
of a series of small rooms, also used as dormitories by
some of the servants of the household, all access to the
several apartments was wholly impossible, so completely
were they enveloped in the thick cloud of smoke which
had found its way from below. Up to this time no '
flame had been observed; but shortly afterwards a small
volume was seen issuing from a short narrow passage
leading from the smaller of the bedrooms occupied by
Mr. Norton, and which for a long time maintained a
complete mastery over all the efforts made to subdue it.
The officers and soldiers of the second Life Guards, and
of the first battalion of Scotch Fusiliers, stationed Wind-
sor, now appeared, and with the whole available force of
the Windsor police, underthe direction of Mr. Superinten-
dent Eager, and the local fire brigade, lent the most valu-
able assistance in subduing the conflagration which threa-
tened destruction to all around. His Royal Highnesri
Prince Albert had been early apprised of the catastrophe,
and was immediately in attendance consulting with Col.
Biddulph, Col. Phipps, and other officers of the house-
hold, as to the best means of aveiting•khe impending de-
struction. Finding that the interior and exterior appli-
ances for mastering the fire were wholly unequal to the
task, it was deemed advisable to dispatch at telegraphic
message to Mr. Braidwood, of the London Fire Brigade
to command his immediate attendance with a number of
engines and men proportioned to the emergency;. Im-
mediately on the arrival of this communication, that
active and experienced officer started for the Waterloo
terminus of the South-Western Railway with two pow-
erful engines, one from the Watling-street, and the other
from the Farringdon-street stations, with ten men, five
to each engine, selected from the London Fire Brigade.
There they found that a seriors delay would arise bfore
the necessary arrangements could be made for dispatch-
ing a train with them to Windsor, and they pushed on
to the Nine Elms station, whence after some little time,
they were conveyed by a pilot engine at the greatest
possible speed to their destination, which they reached
about two o'clock. By this time, the fire which had
been rapidly circulating through the various floors in
each of the stories from the dining-rooms upward:, had
reached the ceiling immediately below the roof, and was
[dazing out of 'some of the )Aindows in the a ljoining
rooms. It had also communicated with the splendid
ceiling of the royal dining-room from the floor above, of
which it was making appalling havoc. By a dexterous
movement on the part of the London fire brigade, and
immediately on their arrival, the burning ceiling of the
upper story was effectually cut away, by which means
the roof was wholly preserved, and the flames kept
within the walls. The windows in many places were
now broken by stones purposely thrown from without
to admit the hose of the engines, which had been
drawn up outside, and by dint f exertions on the
part of the metropolitan and local firemen, and an
abundant supply of water, the flames were gra-
dually got under, but not before a considerable portion
of the ceiling of the dining room, and the floors,
ceiling, and furniture of the apartments above had been
destroyed. All communication with the adjacent parts
of the Castle was also effectually cut off, by tearing up
the floors and removing the furniture, a service in which
the officers and soldiers of the Life Guards and Fusiliers
engaged with the most praiseworthy zeal and effect, and
by this means the conflagration was strictly confined to
a comparatively narrow circle in the extreme corner of
the building in which it originated.
It has been said that shortly after the discovery of
the fire her Majesty.left the Castle and proceeded to
Frogmore, her Majesty, however, did not leave
the Castle. On the contrary, she remained there duiing
the whole of the tight, and, though she could not but
feel considerable alarm on such occasion, it is stated that
she evinced throughout the same remarkable presence of
mind and courage which she has more than once shown
in the presence of danger.
The origin of the disaster is as yet wholly matter of
conjecture ; but it is most generally assigned, by those
competent to form a judgment in such a case, from their
experience and professional pursuits, to the overheating
of a flue. At all events, that it had its rise in accident
is undoubted. At present it would be idle to attempt
to form anything like an accurate estimate of the damage
done. It may be sufficient to state that it will amount to
nothing like between 80,000/. and 100,0001., the sum stated
in the newspapers of to-day. The whole of the magnificent
furniture in the royal dining-room was removed without
injury ; but a large portion of the ceiling of that apart-
ment, which consisted of oak elaborately decorated with
gold, has fallen in, and lies a shapeless mass of charred
wood and mortar on the floor beneath, whilst the water
poured into the apartments above, for the purpose of
extinguishing the flames, has continued percolating
through the remainder of the ceiling in showers during g
the day. The exterior walls of the tower, however,
re-
main perfectly intact, and any per Son looking at that
part of the structure from without to-day
can .discover
little or no trace of the conflagration which raged within
for eight hours during the previous night.
Happily, the accident originated inanextreme corner
of the stately edifice. Had it been otherwise, the result
must have been melancholy and diastrous in the
extreme.

last an elopement of a somewhat °
ELOPEMENT Erillitou ----------"'"'"'"n.''_.
occurred at Almondbury.
DINAR-Y. 11 Sundayremarkable
characterevening
the beautiful and Miss Fanny Battye, aged 22,
Battye, Esc, , j..n accomplished daughter of B. N. R.
story. It appears of Fenay Lodge, is the heroine of the
York-
shire domesticatedra that Miss Fannwho • real y, is a
siohally Vent as well as accomplished lady, occa-
these to Huddersfield a shopping. On one of
occasions, towards the c:oseof last um
summer, s she
happened to visit the shoo of Mr. Joseph Brook, book-
seller and stationer, in IN estgate, where she was served
by 'il. a young shopman whose name is Charles Edward
eYra'3ur. Being leap year rumour states that she
availed herself of the traditional privilege of her sex, and
cast a " sheep's eye" at our Adonis, which was followed
by the "accidental " squeezing of his hand as he gave
her a packet of envelopes. Young Charles immediately
detected, and as promptly reciprocated these telegraphic
indications of love. Miss Fanny's visits at the shop
from thence became more frequent until at length suspi-
cions were entertained by the other shopmen, which
were embodied in whispers that ultimately reached the
councils at Fenay Lodge, and the result was that young
Keymour was removed to to shop in- London. Time
rolled on, and it was thought thrt the intimacy, which
appeared to have been ripening into love, had been
finally broken off. On Sunday evening last, there being
no evening service in Almondbury parish church, Miss
Fanny proceeded as usual on foot to her devotions at
the workhouse, where the vicar holds an evening ser-
vice. After service was over she returned by a rather
circuitous route homewards. On arriving at Fenay
Bridge, a cab was standing, a mysterious-looking
opened the door, Miss Fanny bounded into Personh the v
the door was closed, and thedrove ehicle,
party off to
Hud-
dersfield Railway Station, where y the
ula—e
awaiting her arrival. The party thenop Charles was
to Leeds, and from thence by the 2.30. proceeded by train
Monday
morning
train on the Midland line to London.
the metropolis they proceeded to On arriving in
where a clergyman was in attendance,* Pancras Church,
united them together for " who immediately
better and for worse."