Archaeology — 1660-1666; 17th century
Fire bucket
This leather fire bucket was found on the site of New Fresh Wharf, on Lower Thames Street, in 1974. Preserved under collapsed buildings and other debris used to heighten the ground after the Great Fire of London, archaeologists found a burnt cellar with the remains of wooden supports for barrels. The bucket was found here and may have been used to fight the Great Fire and dropped by accident in the chaos. It still has traces of painted decoration on the leather - the year 1660 or 1666 and the initials SBB, indicating that it belonged to the nearby parish church of St Botolph Billingsgate. Records from the church show that the parish maintained 36 leather buckets 'for danger of fyer' and a ladder with 17 treads, which would have been long enough to reach an upper floor.
- Category:
- Archaeology
- Object ID:
- NFW74[41]<2>
- Object name:
- Fire bucket
- Object type:
- Artist/Maker:
- —
- Related people:
- Related events:
- Related places:
- Production date:
- 1660-1666; 17th century
- Material:
leather
- Measurements/duration:
- H 275 mm, DM 200 mm (max on mount), H 178 mm, W 266 mm (painted design)
- Part of:
- —
- On display:
- —
- Record quality:
- 100%
- Part of this object:
- —
- Owner Status & Credit:
Archaeological archive
- Copyright holder:
digital image © London Museum
- Image credit:
- —
- Creative commons usage:
- —
- License this image:
To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.