There were not many public services during the 19th century when the church attended to the needs of the community. There were Vestry Meetings with Overseers and a rate levied for services rendered which today would be paid for by the Parish or Borough Council or Central Government

FIRE SERVICE
The Fire Service has been in operation in our village for over one hundred years. The fire engine has had many homes before the present fire station. At one time it was housed in the Church and came out of the west door. Later it was moved to the end of Swan Street just before Bear Hill, other homes have been The Council Offices in Swan Street, Chances Stores (George Street and in 1960 it vacated this for the new fire station at the top of George Street built at a cost of about £6000.
In 1867 the fire brigade had not been called out for a long time when they were summoned to a big fire at Town Mill. It was thought to have started in the oven and blankets were saturated and put on the fire to put it out. It was reported in the local press that Mrs Pope was unlikely to recover.
In 1885 the following account appeared in the local press: "A fire broke out on Friday last about 7 a.m. in George Street, the property of Mr Edward Hoare, caused, it appears, by the overheating of a copper flue. The fire was communicated to an adjoining shed which was soon ablaze and attracted many persons to the spot. The Fire Brigade which lately had been made a voluntary one could not be induced to manipulate their engine and their captain Dr Maples considered it unnecessary as no water was available. A good supply, however, could have been found if sought for. Several members of the old brigade were indignant and refused to lend their aid; while a few of the volunteers who were present viewed the fire with their hands in their pockets. Happily the wind was blowing from the south, or probably the dwelling house would have been destroyed. No one could be found even to cross the bell for the purpose of giving an alarm, as is usual when a fire occurs; and to supply this lack, two or three young men sounded some sheep bells that were at hand".
In 1897 the Vicar resolved that the A sexton or other person who rings the bell to summon the brigade together should be paid 1/-.
In 1918 there was a small fire at The Star public house and in February of the next year the fire at The Swan cost £12.2.10d but the firemen did not receive payment for this until the end of April.
Before the days of combine harvesters, hay and straw ricks often caught fire and in January 1899 Mr Carter supplied his horses to pull the engine to Hyde Farm, Ecchinswell. Both a hay and straw rick caught fire and the firemen were away from home from 7p.m. till 7 a.m. After they had been working for an hour Newbury Volunteer Fire Brigade steamer gave "valuable service". The ricks were cut to pieces to extinguish the fire and the men worked with prongs and cutting knives.
Before mechanisation came horses were used to pull the necessary equipment. This sometimes caused problems. On more than one occasion the horses that were required were out of the village, perhaps as far away as Newbury. During the 1930's the hand-pumped engine was usually drawn by Mrs Proles horse Billy, but before he worked at this he had to be caught which was no easy task. He had to be offered titbits to entice him and sometimes he could never be caught in time. At practises behind the Old Brewery the men didn't attempt to use him, it was quicker to push the engine from Chance's shop to the stream in the meadow in Tower Hill, where some time was spent trying to stop the leak in the hose.
With mechanisation came the use of any available vehicle. One local resident has recalled how Mr Chalk's coal lorry was used to pull the fire engine to Plantation. The lorry bore a load of coal as there was not time to unload first so the coal was actually transported to the fire.
Two trailer pumps were converted by Messrs A Cooke and S Garrett. In time this was sold to Cheam School where it was used to pump water out of the swimming pool. At the outbreak of WW2 Kingsclere had its own fire fighting equipment. In the 1942/3 period the local fire service became the National Fire Service. They played their part in the war by being "on call" in the hut at Brimley Hill Farm and for the first time women were admitted to the service. This was how one local businessman met his wife. Men were on duty every fourth night and women every sixth. Later on women were not required to do night duty.
A local schoolboy at that time, David Howe, used to cycle round the village calling out the firemen when there was a fire. For this he was paid 2/6 a time. After this a siren was used to give warnings from the Council Offices and by 1960 from the new fire station. In 1973 the firemen were issued with "pagers".

STREET LIGHTING
Until 1868 the whole of the village was in darkness except on moonlit nights. But in 1868 18 of the principal ratepayers attended a public meeting and decided to have 20 lamps placed round the village. A committee was formed to "select the most suitable places to fix the lamps so that we may hope that before another year our town may enjoy the benefits of public lights." On November 1st the gas lamps had been erected and Mr John Beaver from the Kingsclere Gas and Coke Company could be seen walking the village with his long pole to light the lamps at dusk and put them out at 10.15p.m. The lamps were lit from September until March. In October 1905 the Parish Council Clerk, Mr Charles Westcombe wrote to MR Beaver authoring a rise in pay to 25/- per lamp annually. The Beaver family also fitted lamps in St Mary's Church.
Prior to Queen Victoria's Jubilee a timber carriage ran down George street, crashed into the gas lamp on the Market Square and broke it. It was mended temporarily but in 1897 a special lamp as made which included Hampshire roses and sea horses. This was erected on a stone base and later seats were added. In 1969 it was found too costly to be cleaned and restored and was replaced with a modern brilliant light. The Victorian lamp was taken to Eli Beavers garden in Kempshott and after renovating these words were inscribed "This lamp was erected in the Market Place, Kingsclere to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897 by MR John Beaver who was at that time owner of Kingsclere Gas Works." In the 1980's it was returned to the Market Place without cost to the Parish Council where it stands today with the original base in the garden which the Borough Council has made.

POSTAL SERVICE
Kingsclere was originally a sub-post office with no telegram service. Letters arrived from Newbury at 7.25a.m. and were collected at 5.45p.m.. In 1867 a petition was sent to the postmaster asking if the postman Mr Mann could have part of Sunday off to enable him to attend worship.
When mail arrives from Newbury 70 years ago by pony and trap the driver Freddy Bull put the pony in the Crown Hotel yard. Mr Ern Prout remembers leaving school and going to work at the Post Office where he became Telegram Boy and soon learnt to ride the red bicycle. He often went to Starke House to Mr Brown who had the threshing business. In 1916 Mr Prout took the good news to Park House that Clarissimus had won the Two Thousand Guineas.
The village has grown so much that more people are employed delivering the mail. In 1987 there were three postmen with Union Lane being delivered by van.

POLICE
The village was well looked after by the police at the station in Newbury Road with the Superintendent, Sergeant and Constable and a single policeman living in the village. The married constable looked after the pair of lovely horses which the Superintendent used for getting around the district visiting his men stationed in the villages as far away as Crux Easton, (about 8 mile west of Kingsclere)
The police Station which house three families and had cells was built in 1855, it was originally going to be Kingsclere Railway Station. It was demolished in 1969 when we had no village "Bobby". A house in Strokins Road was allocated for a time when we had one policeman but then we were without again. In 1977 three houses were built in Newbury Road and two officers from Tadley moved into the pair and PC Bell became the village policeman and lived in the police house which faced Longcroft Road. In 1986 the pair of houses were sold so we were left with one policeman who is mobile.

PETTY SESSIONS
In 1855 the Petty Sessions were held at the Swan Hotel on the last Tuesday of each month. By 1867 it was being held in the Crown and in 1899 at the Albert Hall, in Swan Street. Since then the venue has been the Council Offices and now the Magistrates Court in Basingstoke.
The Petty Session Records show the types of law breaker that existed in Kingsclere
1867 - A 14 year old girl was committed to prison for stealing 3/4d. from her employer.
1868 - A toll collector assaulted a man nicknamed "Nosey" for refusing to pay the toll into Kingsclere.
1883 - For allowing three cows to stray on the highway a farmer was fined 1/- with 4/- costs
For leaving his employment wrongfully, the employer was awarded 15/-
For refusing to work while being maintained in the Union Workhouse a man was committed to prison for two months.
For cruelly ill treating a horse by beating a man had to pay £5 with £1 costs
For allowing a person under 21 to ascend a chimney, 9/- costs
Stealing shirts from the Workhouse worth 13/- a man was committed to prison for 21 days
Six summonses were taken out against six individuals for selling bread other than by weight, the fines varied from 5/- to 10/- with 7/- costs.
Being drunk in charge of a horse and cart a man was fined £1
For furious driving a man was ordered to pay 1/6 weekly.
For child maintenance a man was ordered to -ay 1/6 weekly until the child was 13 years of age. Costs were 16/6
1884 - Assault and battery including costs amounted to 10/-
For having no name painted on a timber carriage on the highway, a man had to pay 5/-, there were no costs.
Keeping a dog without a licence cost a man £1 with 15/- costs
Day Game trespassing cost a man £1 with 12/- costs or one months hard labour.
1885 - For non-attendance at school a father was warned and discharged when he promised to send his child to school more regularly
1897 - A ten year old boy was given four strokes of the birch for stealing gloves from the school
1919 - For being without a gun licence at Lower Mill (not the farmer) a man was fined 10/-
Coming from a Dance a man could not get his light to burn and for riding a vehicle without a light had to pay 4/-
For leading a horse at night without a light a man was fined 4/6d.
Three men were each summoned 5/- for using bad language and as recently as 1937 a man had to pay 10/- for this offence.
1946 - A soldier was taken to the court at the Albert Hall for marrying in Kingsclere Registry Office in 1942 when, it was alleged, he already had a wife he had married in 1936.

ROAD MAINTENANCE
From Elizabethan times until the Local Government Act of 1894 road maintenance was dealt with by a Road Surveyor appointed by the Church Wardens. From 1894 this became the duty of the Kingsclere Rural District Council. Three years later the £496 spent on roads meant that they had overspent by £21. The same year Mt Charles Garrett was appointed as Surveyor of Highways and Inspector of Nuisances. At this time most of the money was spent on large quantities of flints picked from the road side fields and broken into two inch pieces and gravel from the local pits. The flints were delivered to road where the holes were and after having been placed in the holes in the surface the a steam roller gave them a hard press.
With the age of the motor car and bus it was necessary to widen the roads. Surveyor from 1904 till 1931, Mr William Thomas Jelfs could be seen cycling around the district but eventually he was provided with an open seater Rover 8. He used to wear knee breeches and a Norfolk jacket.
From 1932 Mr A E Orledge became Surveyor and during his time he introduced limestone chippings from the Mendip Hills in Somerset and tar macadam. In the first year alone the tar cost £524.

ISOLATION HOSPITAL
As far back as 1790 there was a smallpox house at Summerhurst. Just over a century later the Hospital Committee of the Kingsclere District Council found it necessary to isolate people with infectious diseases by having portable huts and tents in the family's gardens. However, it appears that this was not too successful as in 1898 the Committee decided to purchase a large cottage in open country on the outskirts of Ecchinswell as an isolation hospital. Mrs Crane was employed "to reside there on the best terms they can make with her but not to exceed 6/- per week." An old four wheel horse buggy was purchased to transport infected persons to hospital. The late Miss Win Thumbwood spent some time there when she had diphtheria and spent some of her time chopping wood.

ECCHINSWELL ROAD CEMETRY
The time came when the Parish Council decided it was time to look round for a burial ground and in March 1922 a Committee was formed. The following sites were selected as possible places - Handy Cross, Newbury Road, Russells and Partridges both in Union Lane, Pennyshatch, Corner Meadow near Pennyshatch, Horsebrook and Ecchinswell Road. Lord Bolton offered the latter which was accepted and consecrated by the Bishop of Winchester in 1923, when Methodists joined with Anglicans for the service.

SEWERAGE AND WATER
The Thames Conservancy from time to time analysed the Kingsclere stream which was usually impure. In 1898 they informed the District council that the stream was impure and not to pollute it. The Highway Board which was followed by the District Council had laid pipes in the streets to clear surface water. Some householders had connected these to their houses and in 1899 "slops and certain things" were being emptied into the stream.
A Parish meeting was called the following January to discuss two proposed sewerage schemes. The first involved placing a tank at Victoria Mill in a meadow belonging to the Prior family. The owner was against this and so was the Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Reginald Maples, when he called it a sewerage farm and said it was too close to the school and the Church.
The second proposal was put into operation by the District Council on land belonging to Rev Alfred Bradfield (Wesleyan) at Lower Mill, next to Strokins Meadow. A rent of £15.15s was being paid annually for the land at the sewerage beds. A public meeting was called in May 1905 to seek the views of ratepayers about buying Lower Mill Farms. The District Council had the first chance of buying the 44 acres and house and buildings for £2000. It was suggested that the sewerage beds could be extended and for about £50 they could be taken to Harridens. With this view in mind and £2000 being rather excessive the voting was 28 for it and 24 against. Views were passed on to the District Council who purchased the land for £1990. The first and only tenant was my [the authors] grandfather James Foster who moved in at Michaelmas and paid a rent of £70 yearly. He purchased it from the Council in 1923 and lived there for the rest of his life.
The village grew very little and so the sewerage facility was adequate and it was not extended until about 1957 when a modern system was built on the northern side of Upper House Farm in Union Lane.
The Public Health (Water) Act of 1878 required householders to provide a wholesome supply to their own houses either by digging a well or acquiring a share in another persons well. It was at their own expense that they had to have their own supply analysed an a certificate of purity produced for the Inspector of Nuisances.
Kingsclere was the first village under the District council to have some kind of piped water in 1904 when they borrowed £4540 to finance the project. However, it wasn't until 1933 that the village had mains water supply.

ALLOTMENTS
At the very first meeting of the Parish Council in December 1894 it was questioned what would be a fair sized allotment should be. Six acre at Pond Close (near The Star) was rented from Lord Bolton for 25.- annually.
By 1900 there were 40 allotments in the whole of the Parish including Ashford Hill and Headley. One acre was let to the Guardians of the Workhouse for £2.5s yearly. In 1902 there were 25 acres of allotments in the Parish.
In 1917 four acres at Lines was rented again from Lord Bolton for £2 per acre. During the same year half an acre of The Dell Allotments owned by Higham's Charity was used by the Red Cross for the Hospital at Kingsclere House. In 1923 Lord Bolton sold off some of his land and the Parish Council bought the land at Wolverton and Lines, borrowing £250 from the County Council for 30 years. This proved to be a great financial success as this land was sold for development and allotments were provided with land exchange.
With the war with Germany in 1939 it was more important than ever that everyone should be encouraged to grow food. In November of that year the top part of Parsonage Meadow was rented from Mr George Hopkins for 3d. per pole the first year and 6d the next year. In 1941 it was very wet and drains were to be put in and the estimated cost was £5.