In 1738, Wellingborough suffered a devastating fire which tore through part of the town, destroying homes and businesses.
It was a truly devastating fire. The billowing smoke could be seen from Kettering, and the skies in Higham Ferrers went grey.
The townspeople sheltered in the church, perhaps hoping for divine intervention. Instead, salvation arrived via a matriarch whose solution sounds less like firefighting and more like someone trying to tuck the town into bed after a stag weekend.
Hannah’s Extremely British Solution
Hannah Sparke was a widow who owned a pub near the church. She was about sixty years old at the time, and she looked at the advancing inferno and decided We’re gonna need a bigger drink!
Water was scarce, and it didn’t look like the fire was stopping any time soon.
Hannah’s solution appears to have been developed using the same rigorous process as all great British decisions: standing in a panic and pointing at alcohol. She ordered her servants to use the contents of the pub cellar the fight the flames.
Beer soaked blankets were thrown onto flames. Alcohol was poured onto burning areas and onto the church roof, where the intense heat had begun melting the lead covering.
Now, scientifically speaking, this sounds like the sort of idea normally shouted moments before somebody loses their eyebrows. But remarkably, it appears to have worked!
Hannah’s actions were credited with helping stop the fire spreading further and saving All Hallows Church along with many of the people sheltering inside.
Wellingborough’s Folk Hero
Hannah Sparke became a local legend. Her portrait recently sold for nearly £700.
She also became famous for her extraordinary age. Born in 1678, she lived until 1785 and reportedly reached nearly 107 years old, astonishing for the period.
On her hundredth birthday, she was carried around the town on chair by the townspeople.
Northamptonshire History Continues To Be Weird
Northamptonshire’s history includes:
- rebellions;
- civil wars;
- royal drama;
- constitutional crises;
- and now apparently tactical alcoholism!
Some counties produce saints. Some produce philosophers.
Northamptonshire looked at a raging inferno and said Have we tried using more booze?
Sources
Carr, J. (2024) Hannah Sparke Miniature
Gildings Auctioneers (2024) Bright Sparke – the story of the Great Fire of Wellingborough in miniature
Loveless, S. (1970s) Hannah Sparke and the Great Fire of Wellingborough
- Reposted by Palmer, C (2017) – https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1538010056287242&set=p.1538010056287242&type=3
Jack Preston 