Mary Clarke: a woman who left no trace

All of the men who lost their homes in the fire have left some scrap of historical record behind them. The only woman named in the report left nothing at all – except for her appearance in that list. That is the only evidence we have that she ever lived. She was probably a widow …

The great fire of West Haddon, 1657.

 There were no local newspapers to report on a village disaster 360 years ago. The only reason we know about the fire in West Haddon is because the report of the Court of Quarter Sessions at Northampton Castle in the autumn of 1657 has survived the centuries. …upon the first day of August last there …