25/07/2024
Interesting read about Wareham’s history x
Today is the anniversary of the Great Fire of Wareham!
On a hot summer’s afternoon on Sunday July 25th 1762, a fire started to burn on a rubbish tip at the back of ‘The Bulls Head’ Inn on South street (now occupied by Lloyds Bank in South Street). Earlier, a servant from the Inn had thoughtlessly tipped out hot ashes onto the rubbish, and in the warm summer wind the fire quickly spread through the old timber framed medieval thatched buildings in the town. Firefighting was limited to carrying buckets of water to dowse the flames or the use of large hooks to drag the thatch from the roofs of the buildings and much of the fire was left to burn itself out. By the evening over 140 buildings were destroyed (amounting to two thirds of the town), although miraculously nobody was killed.
St Martin’s church was used as a temporary refuge for people who had lost their homes, and some stayed in the church for over a year. Neighbouring towns sent aid in the form of carts of food to help those who were now homeless. It was estimated that the fire damage amounted to £10,000 pounds.
After the fire a public meeting was held, and an act of Parliament was sought and passed to rebuild the town. A country wide appeal fund was launched which raised £7,400 including £500 from King George III. Wareham’s Mayor insisted on strict rules for the rebuilding of Wareham. The old timber buildings of North Street were not to be rebuilt, and the street was widened to provide an adequate fire break. Thatched roofs were also prohibited for new builds. It is said that the roofs that you can see today that are thatched, effectively mark the boundary of where the great fire spread to.
For a lucky few householders, thanks to being covered by Sun Fire Assurance Company, firemen had gone straight to their properties. Thus it was also agreed that all new properties should have fire insurance and that this insurance company should provide a fire engine. If you walk around Wareham today you will see that many of the houses from that period still bear the maroon discs outside their front doors.
The new houses were built in the typical Georgian style of the period, a characteristic the town retains today.
Read more about Wareham’s amazing history https://visitwareham.com/warehams-amazing-history/