Great Fire of Northampton
The Great Fire of Northampton occurred on the 20th of September 1675 in Northampton in Northamptonshire, England. The blaze was caused by sparks from an open fire on St. Mary's Street, near Northampton Castle. The fire devastated the town centre, destroying about 700 of the town's 850 buildings, including All Saints church,[1] in six hours. Three quarters of the town was destroyed, 11 people died and about 700 families were made homeless. Many people escaped the fire by going through Welsh House on the market square to safety.
| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for the better and more easy rebuilding the Towne of Northampton. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 27 Cha. 2. c. 1 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 22 November 1675 |
| Other legislation | |
| Repealed by | Statute Law Revision Act 1948 |
Status: Repealed | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
Local people and businesses raised £25,000 towards re-building the town centre based around the Market Square. Streets were widened to help prevent a re-occurrence. King Charles II donated 1,000 tons of timber from Salcey Forest for the re-building.[2] A commemorative statue of the king (dressed in a Roman toga) stands on the portico of the re-built All Saints church.
In 1724, the town's new appearance inspired author and traveler Daniel Defoe to describe Northampton as the "handsomest and best built town in all this part of England… finely rebuilt with brick and stone, and the streets made spacious and wide".
The fire received fictional treatment in the second book of Alan Moore's 2016 novel Jerusalem.
See also
edit- Hazelrigg House – a historic Grade II listed house that escaped the fire.
References
edit- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 767.
- ^ William A. Shaw (ed.),Donation listed in Shaw's Calendar of Treasury Books, Calendar of Treasury Books, Volume 6: 1679-1680. (1913), pp. 11-18. British History Online
External links
edit- "House survived the Great Fire", 1 May 2009, Northampton Chronicle
- "A contemporary account of the fire of Northampton, 1675" by Edward Pearse
- "Introduction", Fire Northampton