The town’s darkest day fell on 16 June 1785 when the Great Fire of Biggleswade gripped the town. The seat of the fire was The Crown Inn, and apparently started due to the carelessness of a servant who dumped ashes from the kitchen fire in the yard near some dry straw. It took hold exceptionally quickly and the fire spread to St Andrew’s Street, Holme Lane and Langford Lane (now Hitchin Street) before moving onto Back Street, the Market Square, Foundry Lane and Bonds Lane. In all, it took some four hours for the townspeople to bring the fire under control.
The damage was widespread; nearly one third of the town was destroyed, including nine maltings and 103 houses. The cost of the fire was put at £22,500 and 332 people were homeless. A national appeal was launched as a result to help the many people who had lost their homes and livelihoods.
The photo on the left is The Crown Hotel in 1892, now Wetherspoons. The old Swan Hotel is on the left, demolished in 1972 and redeveloped. Both inns had been destroyed during the Great Fire of Biggleswade in 1785 but both rebuilt by 1800.
Among the buildings destroyed was the Old Meeting Baptist Chapel, and it was lovingly rebuilt and stood until 1968 when it was replaced by a more modern church. Among other churches in the town the present parish church of St Andrews dates back to the 13th century, but there is evidence of a previous Saxon Church on the site. The founder of the Battersea Dogs Home, Mary Tealby, is buried in the churchyard.