Heard of the Great Fire of London? What about the Great Fire of Sunderland?

Few Wearsiders realise that Sunderland had its own Great Fire in 1898.

It ended with 48 businesses being destroyed, gutted or seriously damaged.

It was just after 10pm on Monday, July 18, 1898, when it started in the Havelock House store, on the corner of Fawcett Street and High Street West across the road from Mackie’s Corner.

The conditions were pretty much perfect for a blaze. It was a very windy night which caused the fire to quickly progress into a raging inferno and spread to adjoining buildings.

Once the alarm was raised, panic broke out and the Royal Theatre in Bedford Street had to be quickly evacuated.

Crowds gathered to watch the efforts made to contain the flames.

The fire was finally brought under control early on Tuesday morning and the full extent of the damage was seen.

The whole corner of Fawcett Street had been completely destroyed along with a large section of High Street West and the north end of John Street.

The damage count showed 11 premises in Fawcett Street, 22 shops and offices in John Street, 12 business premises in High Street West and 3 shops in John Street were all completely gutted.

Mackie’s Corner had survived whilst all around its neighbouring premises were burning.

The damage was estimated at £400,000 when the total rateable value of the town was around £500,000. A large portion was covered by insurance but there was a severe general loss.

Rebuilding took place and a new Havelock House store was reconstructed.

Risdons, on the corner of John Street was also included in the rebuilding and the drapers, Caslaw, Hayter and Tate opened in premises between the store and Risdons.

The rebuilt Havelock House department store remained in business until 1915 when the premises were altered to become a cinema – named ‘The Havelock’.

The report comes to the Sunderland Echo thanks to the excellent help of Philip Curtis and the team at the Sunderland Antiquarian Society.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you

How to subscribe to the print edition

It’s easy to subscribe to your local newspaper. We have arranged a special 20 per cent off subscription offer for people to take advantage of. Visit www.localsubsplus.co.uk, choose the newspaper title, the type of subscription and enter your details.