OLD SCHOOL ABLAZE
Document copy from Great Yarmouth Central Library.

Great Yarmouth Mercury
November 24, 1989

Arson was ruled out yesterday after Home Office forensic experts combed the burnt out shell of a former Scratby school.

Norfolk police confirmed the fire at Duncan Hall School on Wednesday night was not suspicious but investigations into the cause were continuing.

The old school, a listed building, had been up for sale as an 11-bedroomed country house for several months.

Six fire crews from Yarmouth, Gorleston, Martham, Acle and Stalham were called in to fight the blaze.

Head of Norfolk CID Detective Chief Supt. Alan Smith said the fire had to be taken very seriously because the school had been empty for along time.

Fire and police investigators spent yesterday sifting through the wrecked 17th century building, co-owned by business partners John Tweed and Stewart Knights, which is on the Old Coast Road.

Mr Tweed said the fire was a "major setback" to their property development and roofing firm. They had bought the old school when it shut five years ago as a development property.

"The damage is about 40 per cent of the building, mostly the roof and first floor. Our initial thoughts are that we want to reinstate the building," he added.

Mr Tweed discovered the fire as he was taking his children home to Hemsby from a football practice. "I thought it was a road accident until I turned in. I just saw the lights and everything."

Mr Knights was in London last night, unaware of the drama. His wife Julia said the building was "his pride and joy".

Divisional fire officer Neville Reynolds said it took an hour for the firefighters to get the blaze under control. "when the first crews arrived, there were flames coming from the roof and the first floor."

They had to pump water from a neighbouring swimming pool and a pond, as well as using a nearby hydrant to prevent it spreading from the main building.

Scratby Hall was first opened as a private school in 1898 by Mr W Tompkins, but it was disbanded when its head was killed while serving as a special constable during the blitz. It re-opened as Duncan Hall School after the war.

It suffered 5000 Pounds damage in a previous fire in March 1971. Five years before that, there was another fire which interrupted a choir practice.

One of the best known independent schools in Norfolk, it was offered for sale as a school for 150 pupils in 1986, by the then owner David Rawnsley.