Latest news with #GreatFireOfNorthampton
BBC News
01-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Northampton's Great Fire to be discussed at special event
A university is to hold a conference for people with an interest in learning more about a fire that destroyed most of a town in the 17th Great Fire of Northampton in 1675 destroyed 700 of the town's 850 buildings and claimed 11 lives.A programme of cultural events is being held to mark the 350th anniversary and the University of Northampton event on 4 July will provide a platform to discuss the university said the symposium, to be held between 10:00 and 16:00 BST at the Senate Building on its Waterside Campus, would look at the "emotional impact and legacy of such a monumental moment in the town's history". Talks from local historians will be held throughout the day and the conference will be free to enter but will require booking prior to the symposium is part of a five-month programme of events and activities to showcase the story of the fire and the rebuild that followed. Earl Spencer, who has written several historical books and co-hosts a history podcast, previously said that the Great Fire of Northampton "was more devastating than the Great Fire of London for its scale".The 1666 fire in London destroyed 80% of the Spencer said the fire in Northampton burned down almost "the entirety" of the county town."It's important for us to remember it – this was something that was an existential threat to a town," he said. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Important to mark Northampton's Great Fire, says Earl Spencer
Earl Spencer has said it was "important" to remember the Great Fire of Northampton as the town begins preparations to marks its 350th anniversary of the 1675 fire destroyed 700 out of the town's 850 buildings and claimed 11 earl, who has written several historical books and co-hosts a history podcast, has researched the fire ahead of a series of events and said from the contemporary accounts he has read it "was more devastating than the Great for of London for its scale". The devastation in London took place in 1666, destroying 80% of the Spencer said the fire in Northampton burned down almost "the entirety" of the county town."It's important for us to remember it – this was something that was an existential threat to a town," he said. Earl Spencer said it was also a story of how an area can rebuild after devastation."There was an account of the town of Northampton in 1724 which said it was one of the most handsome towns in this part of England and that's thanks to the regeneration after the fire," he historian James Miller, who is working on the anniversary events, said at the time of the fire a local lawyer called Richard Rainsford, who worked in London, was able to help with the aftermath."He had been a commissioner at the Great Fire of London so he knew what the pitfalls were," he events to mark the anniversary begin on 29 May with the Oak Apple Day parade and a service at All Saints is celebration of King Charles II, who donated over 1,000 tons of timber to reconstruct All Saints' Church and halved the town's taxes for seven years following the Spencer said it was a "celebration of the restoration of Northampton". Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
