Plaque • Sudbury

On a 19th century brick wall, found in Church Walk, this plaque is mounted into the brickwork. There is no context other than:

THIS WALL WAS BUILT AFTER THE FIRE 1890

On Wednesday 2nd July, 1890 just before noon, a fire erupted from an over- heating engine room. The site was Grimwood's timber yard, and the workshops and sheds were engulfed in an instant. It is said some 40 men had to flee their positions to save their own lives. The site covered more than half an acre and it was completely destroyed. Several nearby homes were also damaged, but thankfully no lives lost.

Newspapers at the time reported that it was the most destructive fire in Sudbury within living memory. So perhaps this is why no further explanation was needed on the plaque; they thought no one would not know about it.

The papers made claims of damages from anywhere between £6000 to £15000 in the days following the fire. 

After the fire a committee was set up to try and help raise funds to replace the tools of around 35 workmen, whose own were lost in the fire.

In the immediate aftermath a new worksite elsewhere was set up to allow trade to continue. The site of the fire being left vacant a while, then being redeveloped. 

In around May of 1893 the appropriately named Phoenix Brewery opened on the site. Today the housing complex Phoenix Court stands on the site. 

///developed.licks.concerned