The present Central Fire Station stands on the site of its 1882-3 predecessor. The earlier building, whose lower was one of early Brandon's tallest and most substantial pieces of architecture, was designed by Charles Timewell, previously an architect in Britain. In his High Victorian Gothic design Timewell was influenced by the arbiter of English architectural taste, John Ruskin, who advocated the use of Venetian Gothic designs. That style could be functionally adapted and the campinile (bell- tower) was used as a lengthy vertical space for hanging the hoses to dry. In 1911 the decision was made to demolish it, in order to make way for the present station and tower. Opposition was vigorous from those who appreciated the fine structure. W.H. Shillinglaw, the well-known Brandon architect and City Engineer, termed the destruction "an act of vandalism of a
perfectly needless nature". The architect of the 1911 replacement, W.A. Elliott, created the new fire station in the Chateauesque style combined with an Italianate tower. The red brick, the steeply-pitched roof with protruding dormers, and the wrought iron balconies beneath the great brackets of the tower, blend to form a picturesque and practical structure.