AN OLD water-powered bell that summoned fire fighters to emergencies in Marlborough for a quarter of a century has been rediscovered in the town hall.

It was found during the current £250,000 refurbishment of the hall when builders were repairing the decorative cupola on the very top of the building.

From the scaffolding that was removed recently they were able to get into the cupola where they found a gong inscribed John Warner 1901 and a more modern siren.

A small water tank by the circular gong confirmed that it was the town's former fire bell that was operated by water.

The date on the bell shows that it was installed during the rebuilding of the town hall that was opened in 1903 on the site of a former hall.

The fire bell was innovative for its day, as much as the siren that later replaced it and the modern system of radio operated pagers.

In an emergency a water tap at ground level on the south side of the town hall was turned on, making the gong ring out loud and clear. From its elevated position it could be heard over much of the town.

Summoned by the bell, the fire fighters would race to the fire station that in those days was in the High Street and so, too, according to lore, would be the two horses that pulled the fire engine.

The horses were kept in the Ducks Meadow off George Lane where St Mary's Infants School is today and when the fire bell rang they would stand at the gate ready to be led to the

fire station in the High Street, where Waitrose now stands.

A photograph in the late Jess Chandler's History of Marlborough shows the horses harnessed to the fire engine in front of the town hall. The caption

says the fire engine was used until 1926.

The photograph shows 14 fire fighters in their uniforms with brass helmets, some firefighters standing in the back of the open fire engine and some at its side.

Marlborough has always been very fire conscious, and continues to be, because of its history of major blazes including the Great Fire of 1653 that devastated much of the town.

Fires have continued to blight the town and several serious blazes in recent years led to the formation of Marlborough's unique fire forum that is dedicated to reducing fire risks in the town.

Until the arrival of the motorised fire engines the horses used to draw a huge extending ladder on wheels that continued to be used until about 25 years ago for repairs to the high part of the Town Hall.

The ladder is now in the Wiltshire Fire Brigade's museum in Potterne.

The fire station was subsequently moved to the Wagon Yard in London Road where the tall tower used for drying the canvas hoses can still be seen.

In 1952 the fire station moved to its present site in The Parade.

Former Marlborough fire station officer George Johnson, who was a fire fighter in the town for 32 years, said: "They used to turn on the tap to make the bell ring.

"I can remember it being used in the early 1930s; it didn't go very often and everybody used to know there was a fire."

Mr Johnson said he had heard the tale that the fire engine horses used to let themselves out of their field, canter up to the fire station and wait to be harnessed.

He said: "From what I can remember, the horses were trained to go to the gate when they heard the bell.

"Then they would wait to be taken to the fire station."