Fire guts historic meeting house

9:56am Tuesday 15th March 2005

MORE than 20 firefighters tackled a blaze in Jordans village which saw an internationally known landmark badly damaged.

Jordans Quaker Meeting House in Welders Lane dates back to 1688 and has been visited by thousands of Quakers who regard the Grade 1 listed building as their spiritual home.

But on Friday the building was engulfed by flames which took almost three hours to get under control.

Four fire engines from High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Gerrards Cross and Amersham attended the scene after 12.31am, when a couple living in the adjoining flat were woken by their fire alarm.

The fire is believed to have started in the flat's kitchen, which was built in the 1960s, and spread to the meeting house.

Jordans Youth Hostel, which is just around the corner from the house, was evacuated amid fears that the fire would spread to its wooden huts.

Manager, Nicola Lowe, said the couple had came to her for help.

"It was unbelievable," she said. Their phones were locked in the building and they came to us for help. Six of us went down there."

The couple, who are the house wardens, were taken to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough. The woman was later released, and the man was kept in for treatment to facial burns and for the effects of smoke inhalation.

A fire spokesman said: "It appears that the man tried to fight the fire and that is possibly why he was injured."

The roof of the building was completely destroyed and the interior was left damaged but recoverable.

A first-floor committee room was also completely destroyed.

Jeremy Williams, investigating fire officer, said a special investigation has begun into the cause of the fire but there are no suspicious circumstances.

He said: "Because of the structure being unsafe we have to be careful while investigating. It might not be immediately that we find the cause."

John Bull, assistant divisional fire officer, said the fire had taken longer to put out because of the methods firecrews were forced to use.

He said: "We employed defensive firefighting from outside the building as opposed to offensive, and going inside. We didn't want to risk firefighters' lives. Obviously if there had been people in there we would have gone in."

The meeting house is owned by a local group of Quakers.

Treasurer Rachel Ashton said she had been attending services at the house for most of her life. It is the spiritual home of the village," she said. "It is a big chunk of history that's been severely damaged."