page_title: Brayton Hall
section_title: Brayton hall fire
hierarchical_section_title: Brayton Hall / The Lawson era / Brayton hall fire
caption_attribution_description: English: Brayton Hall Fire circa 1918
context_page_description: Brayton Hall is a ruined former mansion in Cumbria, England. Once the ancestral seat of the Lawson family, it stood in a large park, with views of the surrounding countryside and the mountains of the Lake District in the background. Located 1.5 miles east by north of the town of Aspatria, and 7 miles south west by west of the market town of Wigton, it was greatly enlarged and rebuilt in 1868. Brayton Hall was practically destroyed by fire in 1918.
context_section_description: Notwithstanding its splendour and magnificence Brayton Hall had a very short life.
  On Saturday 21 September 1918 the hall was almost completely gutted by fire. What had been one of Cumberland's major showpieces; its wall enclosing priceless collections of furniture and works of art, assembled over centuries by various members of the family; became a roofless mass of broken masonry, charred wood and twisted iron. Since the death of his father, the third baronet, had preferred to live at Isel Hall; leaving Brayton unoccupied for most of that time. However the owner had promised the loan of Isel to a nephew, therefore preparations were in hand for Lawson's return. Craftsmen had busied themselves making internal alterations and all was in readiness from the carpets on the floors to the curtains at the windows. The fire started at 10.30am in the Drawing room, situated at the angle of the main building in the south wing, where the furniture, not intended for use, sat in the centre of the room, covered with dust sheets. The servants had lighted the fire that morning, the first time in many weeks.  Investigators later suggested two possible causes; one that a spark had jumped from the fire to the dust sheets; the other that a jackdaw’s nest in the chimney had fallen down scattering burning embers over the room. The caretaker raised the alarm, and although Joseph Berwick, surveyor to the Aspatria Urban District Council and Captain of the volunteer Fire Brigade was immediately at hand, to combat the flames, his efforts failed to prevent the catastrophe. The furniture in the centre of the room was blazing like a bonfire and within minutes the ceiling collapsed and although the staff attached the Fire hoses and began to tackle the blaze they could not prevent it spreading. The Aspatria Fire Brigade arrived with an army of local volunteers only to find that the strong wind was fanning the flames along the south and west wings. Although the Workington engine promptly arrived in the vicinity someone misdirected the driver and the heavy engine sank in the soft earth where it remained for over two hours. The polished floors, the lath and plaster walls, and the wood furniture offered the fire sufficient fuel, causing the roof to collapse and the flames to shoot into the air. Upon realising that they could not save the south and west wings, they concentrated on saving the north wing. They stripped  the roof, tore down the woodwork and prevented the fire from travelling further. So quickly did the fire spread that they lost everything in the Drawing Room, the Maple, the Ash, the Bamboo and Ebony Rooms. However they saved the most valuable furniture housed in the Sheraton Room, in addition to the books in the Library and the contents of the Billiard room. A further calamity occurred after helpers hastily deposited the salvaged articles in the open space; where heavy rain caused further damage. Two John Hoppner paintings valued at £5,000 each were burnt, as were the portraits of the tenth baronet and his wife Anne by the same artist. They also lost the armour belonging to the same baronet. At 9.00pm they had the fire under control. On the following day many onlookers assembled to survey the damage.
caption: Aftermath of the Brayton Hall fire, circa 1918
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