More than 90 firefighters battled to bring the blaze under control after flames ripped through the two-storey building.
Owner Henry Carver told the BBC: “It just happened so quickly. That’s 115 years of history destroyed.”
Carver said he had been taken by surprise by the alarm and his secretary had to tell him it was not a practice.
He said: “There was a little bit of wind and it spread.
“I guess the only solace we can take from it is that we got everybody out very quickly.
“Ironically it started just below where my office was and it spread almost at walking speed.
“I did a little last-minute walk round until I took a few gulps of the smoke and realised I had to get out myself.”
An electricity failure meant the doors would not open and Carver was forced to jump over a small gate at the main entrance.
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