Sheep fair disaster of 1908

By Valerie Martin

The annual Sheep Fair on Nepcote Green in September 1908 went down in history as a night to be remembered when it ended in tragedy and was followed by an Inquiry conducted by the Deputy Coroner.

The calamity concerned William Warren a 17 year old from Basingstoke who was described as "a steady sober chap". Christopher Harris, the roundabout proprietor of Lewes had employed him as a fairground helper, until he left that employment in July 1908.

I understand that William approached Mr Harris again at the Shoreham Regatta and asked to be taken back. Mr. Harris told him that he had his full compliment of workers and that the season was all but over. William was very persistent. Mr. Harris finally relented, and the young man was engaged until he could find himself another job. The fair’s next stop was at Findon where they pitched on the 14th September on southwest side of Nepcote Green to be in attendance at the 1908 Sheep Fair.

The Great Findon Sheep Fair was prosperous that year with some 8,000 sheep penned, an increase of 2,000 on the previous year. The Lamb Fair earlier in July had seen a further 3,200 penned, which was an average for the era. All in all, this indicated prosperous times in the village for the auctioning of animals for which Findon had become famous.

Christopher Harris had a good day at the fair and his helpers were packing up for the night after the festivities. As it grew dusk the fairground was illuminated by the glare of the naphtha lamps. These occasionally underwent a degree of disturbance from the stiff breeze sweeping across the Green. The flaring lamps gave a flood of light on the faces of the workers near the roundabout. There was no escape from the pungent fumes given off from the glowing flares. It must be remembered that at the beginning of the 20th century there were no safety regulations.

William Warren enjoyed the open air life, and during the evening had been busy trimming the naphtha lamps. Naphtha flare lamps were patented back in 1848 and were used by showmen up until the First World War. They were surely a great fire hazard. No one worried about such things in those days.

William was tipping oil into a paraffin lamp when he spilt some down his trousers. The oil encroached on the grass around where he was standing. Suddenly it ignited. He immediately tried to stamp out the flames and kicked at the blazing grass with the intention of putting out the fire. His clothes immediately caught alight and he went up in flames. Understandably, he panicked.

Christopher Harris was on the other side of the fun fair at the time but the blaze and the screams alerted him. Men ran from the shadowy gloom of the fairground machines and tore off the lad’s clothing in an attempt to put out the inferno. It was not long before one of the fairground workers had harnessed a horse and cart and helping hands loaded the injured boy into it.

It was a terrible night on Nepcote Green as can now only be imagined. The anguish of the pain spread through William Warren’s body as the makeshift "horse drawn ambulance" jolted its patient across the Green. It was now nightfall as they proceeded down Nepcote passed the darkened cottages with twinkling lights on the seemingly endless journey to Worthing Hospital.

Upon arrival William was immediately admitted and attended by Doctor Frank Hinds who found him to be suffering from extensive burns to the legs and thighs. Over the next three days in hospital all appeared to be going well but then the patient succumbed to blood poisoning on the Wednesday. The Matron was Miss Burford and she said that William Warren was conscious almost up to the last. Before he died he told her that he started to trim a lamp but did not know how it caught alight.

A scorched area of tufts of grass was all that was left as an awful reminder of where William Warren had met his fate on the night to be remembered on Nepcote Green. Within weeks the grass gradually grew lush and green and nothing was left for the villagers to be reminded of what had happened. I do not know exactly the spot of this accident, perhaps it is just as well as I would think about the tragedy every time I walked passed.