The Auctioneers pub

The Great Fire of Northampton in 1675 destroyed approximately 80% of the centre of Northampton, including nearly all the buildings around the market square. One inn in the square named 'The Last' (a 'last' being a metal frame used to make shoes) survived - after a unanimous vote of the regulars (the choices being return home or save the inn!) by dragging hogshead barrels of beer onto the roof and releasing the contents onto the thatched roof and walls to dampen them. Another hostelry in Market Place - The Auctioneers - was not so lucky, as the decision was made to save the barrels of beer but not the inn. Many years later in the early 1990s, a couple came to stay at The Auctioneers and after a few days went to seek help at the Tourist Information office. They enquired if the staff knew any reported sounds of a woman crying, beer barrels being rolled along the road, a strangely clad old woman in the property and even screams in the night. The staff could shed no light on the claims, but did wonder if there was a link with the story about the barrels being saved in 1675 and if anyone had been killed at The Auctioneers in the Great Fire.