In an extract of a memory of that night, a man said that “it seemed as if the entire village were ablaze, the scene of confusion and disorder was indescribable”

A quaint little village just outside of Cambridge has a strange but intriguing history with fires. Cottenham, between Ely and Cambridge, has a unique array of houses with a mix of architectural styles.

That on its own may lead you to believe that over the centuries, the houses fell into disrepair, however, the real reason is truly ruinous.

Cottenham houses have a mix of architectural styles because few houses have survived the strange pattern of fires which have destroyed most of the older buildings.

The first fire on record happened on April 29, 1676 for unknown reasons. The fire spread through the village and destroyed over half of the buildings which is thought to have been more than 100 houses.

This blazing fire was so impactful that the tiny village has only three dwellings from before 1676 which survive today: 11 High Street, 278 High Street, and 41 Denmark Road.

Less than a century later, another horrifying fire razed the village. Occurring on April 4, 1850, the fire, known as the ‘Great Fire’, started on the High Street. Roughly 40 to 50 cottages burnt down, as well as the Black Horse and White Horse inns and the Wesleyan Chapel, which was housed in a barn on what is now Telegraph Street.

According to Cambridgeshire Community Archive Network (CCAN), in an extract from 1850 from the Memoirs of Henry Arthur Morgan, the undergraduate shared his memories of the ‘Great Fire’.

He wrote: “Coming out of the hall one evening, we noticed a red glow in the sky and heard that the village of Cottenham was on fire.

“The whole sky in that direction was lit up with a dull red glow. At first sight it seemed as if the entire village were ablaze, the scene of confusion and disorder was indescribable, a large numbers of the villagers having taken the opportunity to get drunk.

“It soon become evident that either the Church Mission House or the Dissenters Chapel must perish as the limited supply of buckets of water was not sufficient to save both.”

One fire is a coincidence, the second fire is arguably bad luck, but that wasn’t the end of the strange fire pattern for Cottenham. Another fire, far less damaging, was recorded in 1827, and then two more were recorded in 1847, and 1852, each of which burnt down at least 10 dwellings.