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Fire of 1688

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The "Dreadful Fires" of 1688

A pamphlet reproduced on the Bedfordshire Times of the 28th February 1941 recounts the "sad and dismal Relation of two Dreadful Fires that hapned there on the 12th and 13th days of this instant April 1688. The time and places where they hapned, the Destruction and Desolation they made, together with the circumstances attending the conflagrations, and what else materially fell out during the Consternation and Confusion they occasioned; and may serve as a warning or caution against Negligence, through which so many mischief's of this kind come to pass."

The first fire stated at one Mistress Calnes, a trader in Chandlery-wary and grocery and as a result of tallow taking alight causing a "Great Smoak" and taking four hours to extinguish.  The fire raged in a "Fearful manner" causing some 1,000 worth of damage.

The second fire began some distance away from the first in the "Malt House or Kilne, adjoyning to or very near the house of one Mistress Risley, whose Houses or Buildings were consumed by it." This fire also spread quickly and took some four hours to put out.

Sources:

• Bedfordshire Times, 28th February 1941

The "Dreadful Fires" of 1688, by Bedfordshire Libraries, 2005

Page last updated: 22nd January 2014