Keystones from old Fire Station - Wymondham, Norfolk - Relief Art Sculptures on Waymarking.com

"The upper part of the old fire station of 1883, supported on a long beam with the lower section removed to make an entrance to one of the town’s car parks. The keystone above the circular window shows a knife and spoon. To the left is a wagon and to the right a fire engine, with a salamander beneath. Above the two windows are keystones showing hoses, and at the bottom two firemen in their high helmets frame axes.

The salamander was appropriate for the fire station since it had had been chosen as his personal emblem by Francis I of France(1494-1547), with the motto ‘Nutrisco et extinguo’ (I feed upon the good fire and put out the bad one). Presented by Mrs Julia de Rubigne Beevor Clarke, to whom it must have come from Mrs Julia de R.B.Clarke, who is mentioned in the National Archives as having inherited a farm at Scoulton in 1881. The inscription is strange since the the history of the fire brigade as set out in Kelly’s 1892 Directory p.693 reads: ‘The Wymondham fire brigade was established in 1882; the station in market Street, erected in 1883-4 at the cost of Mrs E.P. Clarke. It is brick with stone dressing and comprises a hall, office, workshop and hose shed; there are two manual engines and other necessary appliances.’ During the 1850s there were two Clarkes in Wymondham, the brewer W.R., who lived on Market Place, and the solicitor E.P. on Vicar Street, a property inherited by his widow Mrs. E.P. Clarke, responsible for building the fire station. Her relationship with Mrs Julia de R.B.Clarke is not known. Presumably the building stayed in the family until Mrs Julia de Rubigne Beevor Clarke gave it to the town in 1967.

Plaque at side: Wymondham Heritage Society. The Old Fire Station 1882-1967, Presented to the town by Mrs Julia de Rubigne Beevor Clarke, it housed the Volunteer fire brigade until 1967 The keystone above the circular window is dated 1883 and inscribed ‘JdeRBC’ (for Mrs Julia de R.B.Clarke)."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Your impression of the sculpture?: Date Sculpture was opened for vewing?: 01/01/1883 Website for sculpture?: [Web Link] Where is this sculpture?: Former fire station, now entrance to car park Market Street Wymondham, Norfolk England NR18 Sculptors Name: Not listed

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