Wellingborough fire hero's picture sells for double its estimate

The tiny picture went under the hammer at Gildings Auctioneers

A miniature portrait of a woman whose quick thinking in 1738 saved a church from fire sold for more than double its estimated value at auction.

Hannah Sparke managed to stop flames reaching All Hallows Church during the Great Fire of Wellingborough, in Northamptonshire, by protecting her own roof with malt liquor.

Gildings Auctioneers said it sold for £682 from a guide price of £200-£300.

The picture was bought by a private collector from Northamptonshire.

This meant it would return to its home county after a number of years spent as part of a collection elsewhere in the UK.

Inferno spread through the town

Ms Sparke became a local hero during the blaze which stared on 28 July 1738.

It was described as a "hot, dry day with a buffeting breeze", and a spark from a fire at a dyer's shop started an inferno that spread through the town and destroyed 1,000 buildings.

Some people sought refuge in All Hallows Church, but it became clear that the church itself was at risk and no water was available.

Ms Sparke, who lived nearby, told her servants to use malt liquor from her cellar to douse the flames and to soak blankets in ale to cover the thatched roof of her house, in Pebble Lane, to stop the fire spreading.

Her heroism was not forgotten and she was carried aloft around the town on a chair on her 100th birthday in 1778.

All Hallows Church survived the fire and is used today

The painter, Thomas Hull, executed a portrait of Ms Sparke, which inspired the London-based 18th Century Italian engraver Francesco Bartolozzi to make a print of her.

Copies of the print were held in the British Museum, the Royal Collection Trust and the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut, US.

Francesco Bartolozzi's print of Hannah Sparke is on display in the UK and US

"We're delighted to achieve such a great result for this unique item from this little-known but fascinating story from our local history," said Will Gilding, director of Gildings Auctioneers, based in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

"Everyone has heard of the Great Fire of London, but not many know the story of the Great Fire of Wellingborough, which was every bit as devastating to the town's inhabitants, and would have been even more so, if it wasn't for the bravery and resourcefulness of Hannah Sparke and her servants."