EHL153. Fire Hydrant sign. Lismore Road above the Cancer Research shop, Eastbourne. what3words location: rust.crazy.muddy

Enamelled steel-plate sign indicating the location of a fire hydrant.  Date pre 1938.

2018 article by M. Beale on the Essex County Fire & Rescue Service website: ‘In the late 1800s the fire hydrant was invented.  This large valve could be fitted into a water main and was available for fire-fighters to use.  They were mainly fitted under the surface of a pavement or road. Hydrants rapidly replaced the old Fire Plug system all over the country.  Although many areas still used the term ‘fire-plug’ for the hydrants, eventually the term Fire Hydrant became universal.  This led to the replacement of the old ‘FP’ plaques with plaques on which a large letter ‘H’ was marked.  The plaques varied considerably according to the local water companies supplying the water mains.  There was no standardisation.  In the London area, including the Metropolitan parts of Essex, hydrant plaques were standardised in the 1930s.  Metal plates were used with 6” sides.  They were white with blue lettering if they were attached to dark surfaces, or blue with white letters if they were attached to light coloured backgrounds.  A diamond shaped plate denoted that the hydrant was immediately below and in front of the plate.  A square plate indicated that the hydrant was on the opposite side of the road.  A further modification to the system took place in 1938 and that was to add the distance the hydrant was from the plate.  It was eventually decided that black lettering on a yellow background was the most suitable colouring for hydrant plates as it could be spotted in all lighting conditions. This then became the standard method for locating hydrants throughout the whole of the United Kingdom.’

My Comment: I would suggest that, in Eastbourne at least, the following applied: white background with blue H indicated hydrant directly below, whilst white background with red H indicated hydrant on other side of the road as this is where I found the actual hydrants in relation to the wall signs.

EHL154. Fire Hydrant sign. 4 Grove Road, Eastbourne. what3words location: debate.sculpture.fumes

Above the Mind charity shop.

Enamelled steel-plate sign indicating the location of a fire hydrant.  Date pre 1938.

2018 article by M. Beale on the Essex County Fire & Rescue Service website: ‘In the late 1800s the fire hydrant was invented.  This large valve could be fitted into a water main and was available for fire-fighters to use.  They were mainly fitted under the surface of a pavement or road. Hydrants rapidly replaced the old Fire Plug system all over the country.  Although many areas still used the term ‘fire-plug’ for the hydrants, eventually the term Fire Hydrant became universal.  This led to the replacement of the old ‘FP’ plaques with plaques on which a large letter ‘H’ was marked.  The plaques varied considerably according to the local water companies supplying the water mains.  There was no standardisation.  In the London area, including the Metropolitan parts of Essex, hydrant plaques were standardised in the 1930s.  Metal plates were used with 6” sides.  They were white with blue lettering if they were attached to dark surfaces, or blue with white letters if they were attached to light coloured backgrounds.  A diamond shaped plate denoted that the hydrant was immediately below and in front of the plate.  A square plate indicated that the hydrant was on the opposite side of the road.  A further modification to the system took place in 1938 and that was to add the distance the hydrant was from the plate.  It was eventually decided that black lettering on a yellow background was the most suitable colouring for hydrant plates as it could be spotted in all lighting conditions. This then became the standard method for locating hydrants throughout the whole of the United Kingdom.’

My Comment: I would suggest that, in Eastbourne at least, the following applied: white background with blue H indicated hydrant directly below, whilst white background with red H indicated hydrant on other side of the road as this is where I found the actual hydrants in relation to the wall signs.

 

EHL152. Fire Hydrant sign. St. Aubyn's Road at the junction with Seaside, Eastbourne. what3words location: debate.sculpture.fumes

 

Enamelled steel-plate sign indicating the location of a fire hydrant.  Date pre 1938.

2018 article by M. Beale on the Essex County Fire & Rescue Service website: ‘In the late 1800s the fire hydrant was invented.  This large valve could be fitted into a water main and was available for fire-fighters to use.  They were mainly fitted under the surface of a pavement or road. Hydrants rapidly replaced the old Fire Plug system all over the country.  Although many areas still used the term ‘fire-plug’ for the hydrants, eventually the term Fire Hydrant became universal.  This led to the replacement of the old ‘FP’ plaques with plaques on which a large letter ‘H’ was marked.  The plaques varied considerably according to the local water companies supplying the water mains.  There was no standardisation.  In the London area, including the Metropolitan parts of Essex, hydrant plaques were standardised in the 1930s.  Metal plates were used with 6” sides.  They were white with blue lettering if they were attached to dark surfaces, or blue with white letters if they were attached to light coloured backgrounds.  A diamond shaped plate denoted that the hydrant was immediately below and in front of the plate.  A square plate indicated that the hydrant was on the opposite side of the road.  A further modification to the system took place in 1938 and that was to add the distance the hydrant was from the plate.  It was eventually decided that black lettering on a yellow background was the most suitable colouring for hydrant plates as it could be spotted in all lighting conditions. This then became the standard method for locating hydrants throughout the whole of the United Kingdom.’

My Comment: I would suggest that, in Eastbourne at least, the following applied: white background with blue H indicated hydrant directly below, whilst white background with red H indicated hydrant on other side of the road as this is where I found the actual hydrants in relation to the wall signs.

EHL229. Fire Plug cast iron wall plate. Location: 40 Bedford Grove, Eastbourne. what3words location: choice.events.tummy

Fire Plug wall plate c1900.  It has been painted yellow and black as per the ‘modern’ colour scheme.

According to many online and written sources the term ‘Fire Plug’ comes from the age of early water mains in larger towns and cities, which were made of hollowed-out wooden tree trunks.  These sources state that holes were cut (approximately 2” diameter) when water was required for fire-fighting purposes, and re-plugged afterwards, but it seems strange that fire-fighters would have the time to dig down to a mains pipe and cut a hole prior to tackling the fire itself.  It seems more likely, as with London after the Great Fire of 1666, that Fire Plugs were pre-installed and ‘extended above ground.’  Whichever method was used, it is true to say that the term ‘Fire Plug’ was used extensively from the Victorian era onwards.  As the ‘new’ cast iron pipes were laid, valves were placed at regular intervals and a metal plate marked ‘F.P.’ (Fire Plug) would then be fixed nearby to indicate an access point for future use in fighting fires.  The ‘F.P.’ plates were later replaced with plates marked ‘H’ for Hydrant, although some of the original ‘F.P.’ plates can still be found, as in this example. The design of the ‘new’ plates varied considerably according to the local water companies supplying the water mains and there was no standardisation until 1938 onwards.  The current signs take the form of a capital ‘H’ in black on a yellow background.  The figure in the upper section is the diameter of the water mains pipe in either inches or millimetres, and the figure in the lower section is the distance from the sign (or plate) in feet or metres.  From 1975 the old imperial signs were to be replaced by local government authorities at their own expense to the new metric versions, but there are still many of the old signs still to be found in Eastbourne, and due cost it is unlikely the remaining imperial ones will ever be changed.

Standpipes for Fire Hydrants.

From a 1930 Willcox catalogue.

Fire Hydrant ‘Sluice Valve’ type.

See ‘Firemen and their Exploits’ by F. M. Holmes published 1899 and available to view online at Project Gutenberg, which states that (referring to London) ‘In addition to 24,284 hydrants of the London County Council, the corporation of the City have 800 hydrants, which are used for watering the streets as well as for extinguishing fires. In the year 1897, no fewer than 466 fires were put out by hydrants and stand-pipes. The increase of hydrants has been very conspicuous under the County Council. Thus, in March, 1889, the number was but 8,881, showing that no fewer than 15,403 were added during the first eight years of the Council's existence. No doubt, still more will follow. On March 31st, 1898, hydrants had been fixed or ordered in 97½ square miles of the county area, leaving a comparatively small space unprovided with these appliances. This space will doubtless be shortly supplied, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that, with the 800 in the City, the metropolis will ere long be sown with a total of about 30,000 hydrants, which, as the twentieth century dawns, may be regarded as among the most effectual means of fighting the fire at the disposal of the brigade. The establishment of these excellent appliances dates from 1871, and is bound up with the system of constant water supply. By the Metropolis Water Act of that year, it was provided that a water company, after giving a constant supply, must notify the fact to the local authority—now the County Council—which must then specify the fire-plugs or hydrants required, and the Council has the power under the Act of requiring water companies to provide a constant supply within parts of their districts. Hydrants are fully charged from the main, and have a commanding cock or tap attached, so that a supply of water can be obtained at once.  The use of these appliances is very important. Planted at convenient and commanding spots, often at the corners of streets or roadways, and at varying distances apart, ranging from fifty to about four hundred feet, according to the circumstances of the locality, and marked also, not only by the plate in the pavement, but by the letter H, placed in a conspicuous position nearby, the fireman can now, at almost a moment's notice, find the hydrant, and obtain an ample supply of water for his engine, or even a jet of water for the fire, before an engine is on the spot. Very different from the troublesome and hindering work of floundering about, possibly in fog or rain or snow, to find the fire-plug, and then to find the turncock which governed the plug. On snowy or foggy nights, the difficulty and delay were sometimes very great; and the substitution of an extensive system of hydrants, with their quickly-obtained water-jets for the old fire-plugs, may rank as one of the most efficient means of fire extinction in the closing years of the nineteenth century.’

Fire Hydrants.

From a 1930 Willcox catalogue.  The smaller 'Loose Valve' type would be the type fitted under the 'FP' (Fire Plug) small square covers.