ABBERLEY HALL, WORCESTERSHIRE.

DESTRUCTION OF ABBERLEY HALL BY FIRE.

We regret to record the burning of the fine old mansion of Abberley Hall, near Witley, and about five miles from Stourport, in Worcestershire. The house was finely situate in the midst of a plantation, on the top of a high hill. It was occupied at the time of the fire by Mrs. Moilliett, widow of the late Mr. J. S. Moilliett, by whom some very extensive additions and improvements had been made to the property, amongst which was the erection of a high tower, which overlooked the country for many miles. These improvements had hardly been completed when Mr. Moilliett died, and now nearly the whole has been destroyed by fire.

The fire commenced at about three o'clock in the afternoon of Christmas Day. Shortly before that time a servant had been into a store-room at the top of the house, to procure some fruit, &c., for the family dinner; and had taken a lighted candle with her, the room being dark; when the other servants returned from church, in about a quarter of an hour after, they observed smoke issuing from the store-room, and thus the fire was discovered. An alarm was instantly raised, and the neighbours and servants from the different gentlemen's seats and farm-houses in the neighbourhood promptly rendered assistance: among these the servants of Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, from Witley Court, were very active and useful. The Rev J. R. Wood, Canon of Worcester Cathedral and Chaplain to the Queen Dowager, was also on the spot, he having been at the time on a visit at Witley Court.

In consequence, however, of the difficulty of finding water in such an elevated situation as that on which the house stood, and the fire raging at the very top of the mansion, all efforts to save the building proved fruitless; a great deal of very valuable furniture, however, was saved, by the exertions of the people, and also some of the fittings, which were of a most costly description. The principal rooms were decorated with great taste; but the whole is completely destroyed, nothing being now left of this once beautiful residence but the bare and blackened walls.

Mrs. Moilliett, the owner of the property, was, at the outbreak of the fire, lying upon a bed of sickness, where she had been confined for several weeks past. She was removed, with her family of four children, to the Hundred House, a large inn near. The damage to the building is estimated at about £4000; but the value of the furniture, &c., lost is not estimated. The property was insured for some £4000.

Fire-engines were (on the alarm being given) despatched from Witley Court, and from Stourport, but, owing to the want of water, from the cause already stated, they were comparatively inefficient. Happily, the fire taking place in the day-time, no loss of life occurred.

Bay, were apprised of some ship being in distress, and requiring aid from the shore, by hearing, at short intervals, the firing of large guns at sea. The excessive darkness and rough state of the weather, however, made it impossible for the officers to open any communication with the doomed ship. Many and sad were the conjectures, as to who and what the vessel could be, and this dreadful suspense was kept for several hours; till the daylight allowed the officers to ascertain her position, and the crew, their distance from the shore.

She proved to be a large, full-rigged ship, with her bows inclining to the shore westward; the waves were dashing over her with great fury, making a breach across her decks between her main and foremasts, and driving the crew into the mizen-top, where they had considerable difficulty in transferring a sick soldier. After daylight, the Captain, Foromvek, and part of the crew, reached land in the long boat, but were unable to return for their anxious messmates, on account of the roughness of the sea and the strong gale from the west.

About half past ten, the life-boat from Eastbourne was seen coming gallantly before the wind, down to their assistance, manned with a hardy and experienced crew of fishermen appointed for such occasions. She came round the stern, taking a rope thrown from the rigging, and bringing up to the starboard of the wreck with the rope fixed to the mizen yard-arm, and the front of the life-boat; the men then got from the top, on the yard, and all slid down by the rope, except the boy and sick soldier. The former got half way down, where he remained for some time, unable to proceed, the anxious spectators momentarily expecting he would drop into the boiling surf beneath him. He, at last, succeeded in reaching the boat; not so fortunate was the poor soldier, who, being unable to stand, from the exposure and fatigue, had been lashed to the rigging, in which position he was found lifeless by a party of Preventive men, who went to his assistance in the afternoon, when the wind was considerably calmer. The crew, consisting of twenty-six seamen, one boy, and three soldiers, were taken to the inn, in the neighbourhood.

It appeared that they made the different lights correctly along the coast, including Beachy Head, when they signalled for a pilot and lay to for morning; but, from ignorance of their position, they got in too close on the shore, and struck about a quarter of a mile below low water mark; at eleven (high water), it reached about half way between the deck and main-yard; the ship rolled and strained terribly, and fears were entertained whether she would hold together. Thomas Pierce, and two or three hardy fellows, remained for a considerable time, at the peril of their own lives, to be in readiness to render assistance, in case of the masts falling: although they were unable to approach sufficiently near to take any off the wreck, on account of the frailness of their boat. On Monday morning all the masts had given way, and the hull fast yielded to the constant strain of the waves. The rough weather on Tuesday completed the wreck. She was bound from Batavia for Amsterdam, 92 days at sea, and was a fine copper-bottomed ship of about 800 tons, and heavily laden with coffee, indigo, and sugar.

It may be interesting to add that the life-boat by which the crew were saved was built some years since at the expense of the late benevolent John Fuller, Esq., of Rose Hill; he had heard of the want of such a provision on this part of the Sussex coast, and he afterwards took much interest in having the boat well exercised.

A. L.