The heart of old Southwark was clustered around what is now known as Borough High Street: from London Bridge to St George the Martyr Church. What appeared to be a small fire ´was discovered on Friday 26th May 1676, between three and four of the clock in the morning; in the cellar of the house of a colourman [paint seller] & oil shop, situated between The George and Talbot [Tabard] Inns°.

click on the map to go to a (very large) more detailed version

The family of the owner were away in their country home and so only one of their sons and a maid were in the building. At the subsequent enquiry they stated that no fire had been lit for three or four days before the tragedy. Be that as it may, the fire took hold and it took some passing postmen a long time to arouse the sleeping pair, by which time the fire had reached the ground floor, where a quantity of oil and combustible material was stored. Fortunately, the young man and the maid were able to escape through a back window into an adjoining house.

It must be remembered that at that time the streets of London were very narrow and the upper floors of some houses overhung the street and reduced the space between the houses on opposite sides of the road. The fire spread rapidly and within a very short time many neighbouring houses were ablaze. Sadly, there was no fire brigade or proper watch even though, following the 1666 Great Fire, it had been made compulsory for each parish to have a ´fire engine°. These were, in fact, no more than water squirters and if, as on this occasion, the leather pipes were old and punctured they were of little use. What with the oil-fuelled fire and the narrowness of the street, the blaze rapidly spread across the street.

Despite every effort of the authorities, the fire lasted for about 17 hours. During that time, the Lord Mayor, the Duke of Monmouth, the Earl of Craven, the Duke of York and Charles II were on hand ´to give such orders as His Majesty found fit for putting a stop to it [the fire]°. But there was little even these illustrious personages could do but fall back on the tried and tested method of blowing up houses in an attempt to form a firebreak. The Court House and prison were among the first to be blown up. These were on the site of the former church of St Margaret, which is now Town Hall Chambers (behind the War Memorial). The extent of the devastation is shown on the map overleaf. With the exception of St Saviours [Southwark Cathedral] it will be seen that the whole of the west side of the street, from the Court House to the Bridge and as far back as St Mary Overy Dock, and the east side of the street from the Queen°s Head Inn to St Thomas°s Hospital and as far back as the Ditch (near Guy°s Hospital) were either burned down or blown up before the conflagration was stopped.

Among the famous inns to be destroyed were The Queen°s Head, The Talbot (Tabard), The George, The White Hart, The King°s Head and the Green Dragon in Foul Lane (now Bedale Street). The Meal Market, which was in the middle of the High Street near St Thomas°s, was also razed to the ground. In all, over 500 houses were destroyed and it is said about 20 people lost their lives.

After all serious fires, the owners of the land wanted to rebuild as quickly as possible, if they had the money. If they did not, and had to raise the cash, owners could find their land being encroached upon by unscrupulous neighbours. The Southwark authorities would have remembered the years of legal wrangling following the Great Fire of London in 1666, so they arranged an Act of Parliament ´for the erecting a Judicature to determine differences touching Houses Burnt and Demolished by the late dreadful Fire°. The result of this legislation saved many inhabitants a lot of grief from unreasonable and predatory neighbours.

Today, with the exception of The George, all the inns that were rebuilt after the fire were swept away by our well intentioned but ´vandalous° Victorian ancestors in the last two decades of the 19th century. We are only left with the names of a few alleyways to tell us where these great inns were situated. There is, however, just one small part of the borough dating from about 1542, little known because it is now on private property. It is the Goat Inn (see arrow on the map). If you look through the large black wooden door at the entrance to Calvert Buildings (by the War Memorial), it can be seen on the right-hand side of that alleyway.