Fire walk poster
Poster used for Fire walks

On 16 September 1847 the inhabitants of Needingworth were shocked by a fire that devastated the village. Although no-one was killed or injured, about half the village was destroyed.

With the Parish Council we commemorated the 170th anniversary of the fire on the weekend of 16/17th September 2017. We offered free guided walks following the dreadful route of the fire through the village, hearing about the events of the day and its consequences. Interest was high so we repeated the walk six times. A total of about 150 people came on the guided walks.

There were also informative “flames” placed around the village so that people could do their own self-guided tour. Everything started from the Village Hall, where there were a display, a working model of the Earith fire pump that attended our fire, and refreshments. Over 70 other people came to the display or did self-guided walks.

We have started a new section on the website (under the Subjects menu heading) about the fire, based on our researches.