Landmark building destroyed by fire
A landmark building was badly destroyed by fire on Friday night.
Four fire crews were called to Elvian House in Nixey Close, Upton at about 2.30pm on Friday to tackle a blaze on the first floor.
It took firefighters from Slough, Langley, Windsor and Reading more than six hours to put out the flames and about 90 per cent of the first floor was damaged by the fire.
They used four hose reels, breathing apparatus and a specialist aerial equipment.
No one was in the building at the time.
The former manor house was converted to an office some years ago but does not currently have a tenant.
The site was originally home to the Old Vicarage and was bought in 1856 by W.G.Nixey, the inventor of blacklead used to clean and polish kitchenware. He built a home on the site and called it Springfield House.
The building has had many names and uses since then, including a home for disabled sailors and soldiers in the 1920s, an emergency maternity hospital in the 1940s, an old people's home and as housing for homeless families.
In 1980 it was converted into offices, which it has been ever since, and was renamed Elvian House.
