A History of the Performing Arts Centre

1856 – Francis White Popham gave land in Victoria Avenue for a school. The National School was established with William Sutherland as headmaster.

1866 – A volunteer fire brigade was formed in Shanklin, twenty years before the formal town brigade. The town’s first fire engine, a manual engine named Nil Desperandum, was bought by public subscription. It was kept at John Buckett/Buckell’s grocery premises at Vine Cottage in the Old Village, believed to be the building now known as the Village Inn.

1871 – The National School moved to new premises in Albert Road. The vacated school building in Victoria Avenue was taken over by the Town Local Board, and 300 books from the Mutual Improvement Society were lodged there.

1878 – The Local Board’s new offices and boardroom were completed. The Board gradually moved to the Town Hall, although the Surveyor’s department remained in the Victoria Avenue building until at least 1920.

1886 – A formal Shanklin Fire Brigade was established by the town authority, following concerns over the efficiency of the existing volunteer brigade. No confirmed reference has yet been found for the brigade’s station location at this date.

1889 – Sibden Road was adopted.

1891, January – Fire station facilities were established at an address in Sibden Road.

1891, May – The brigade took possession of new premises. One account identifies this as the move to Sibden Road; another notes that the County Press report does not give the address, leaving open whether this was the Sibden Road premises or a further move, possibly to Victoria Avenue.

1891 – The brigade is understood to have operated from its new premises in Sibden Road, possibly after a period operating from Buckell’s yard while the premises were being prepared. The brigade had no horses of its own and hired horses from Bartlett’s mews and yard opposite the fire station. On at least one occasion no horses were available, so the crew had to pull the engine themselves. Bartlett’s later became Victoria Avenue Service Station and is now a block of flats.

1895, 16 July – An ambulance was donated to the town by an anonymous donor and stationed at the fire station.

1897 – Sibden Road was officially renamed Victoria Avenue.

1904 – The ambulance was moved from the fire station to the Town Yard, part of the present-day Orchardleigh Road car park, accessed from the lane behind the fire station building.

1907 – Shanklin Fire Brigade purchased its first steam fire engine. The brigade was using the Victoria Avenue building as the fire station by this time, although the exact date of its move there between 1891 and 1907 remains unclear.

1919 – The Council was reminded of its obligations under the Public Libraries Acts, 1892–1919. This may relate to the establishment or formalisation of library use within the building, but this point remains uncertain.

1924 – £9 10s was allocated for renovation of the interior of the fire station.

1925 – The ambulance was moved with the Town Yard to Batts.

1926 – The library was mentioned at the Town Hall.

1926, 31 August – The official address was noted as “The Council Chambers, Victoria Avenue.”

1927 – It was suggested that a mortuary should be created adjacent to the fire station, but this was not approved. Instead, the scullery at the Town Hall was adapted.

1927 – Tenancy of a room or rooms within the building was offered to the British Legion, and it is believed this was accepted for a few years.

1929, May – Chief Officer Cecil Mathews/Matthews requested modifications to the building following the acquisition of the town’s first motorised Dennis fire engine.

1941, 18 August – Shanklin Fire Brigade, like other local brigades, was merged with the Auxiliary Fire Service to form the National Fire Service. The main fire station for the district remained at Victoria Avenue.

1942, July – The National Fire Service moved the local fire station from Victoria Avenue to Davies Garage in Landguard Road, beneath the Gloster Hotel.

1943, 3 January – The Gloster Hotel/Davies Garage site was badly affected during the bombing of Shanklin, with several local firemen and London firemen on leave killed.

1943, 4 January – Following the bombing, the brigade was moved back to Victoria Avenue. One account says the unit returned to the Victoria Avenue fire station; another specifies that it operated from Bartlett’s Garage opposite the previous station building.

1947, 2 February – A plaque was unveiled at the Victoria Avenue fire station commemorating the Shanklin firemen who lost their lives during the war. The plaque is now in the engine house of the current fire station.

1948 – Shanklin Fire Brigade became part of the Isle of Wight County Fire Brigade.

1951, 28 September – The brigade finally vacated Victoria Avenue and moved into the current fire station in Landguard Road.

1951–2020 – The library continued to operate from the Victoria Avenue building after the fire brigade had left.

2020 – The library moved from the Victoria Avenue building to Falcon Cross Road.