Mono Monday - Taste

A lovely history walk this morning with the U3A through Stony Stratford. Pubs to me now mean a nice meal, generally at lunch time, so I thought this sign for the Bull Hotel in Stony would just about meet the challenge brief of Taste - thanks to JDO for hosting.

The Bull is a former coaching tavern and still has the high open archway which the coaches passed through. It was here that the great fire started in 1742. This was the report in a local paper:

'The fire originated at The Bull Inn with a servant girl who was drying sheets before the fire place. One of them caught fire and instead of smothering it she panicked and stuffed the sheet up the chimney, hoping not to be found out by her mistress. This action compounded her problems. the chimney caught fire and then the roof. There was also a high wind and the fire leapt from one building to another, not simply on the one side of the High Street, but also crossing the street, hitting a thatched roof on the other side and relentlessly catching other houses in its destructive path.'

The fire also destroyed the church of St Mary Magdalene, built about 1280. It was never rebuilt. The paper also reported that the fire crossed the River Ouse and burned houses in Old Stratford. 146 buildings were destroyed and the majority of Medieval Stony Stratford with it.

The Bull is more infamous along with The Cock for being the supposed origin or the phrase 'a cock and bull story'.