This light blue building on Charlotte Street adjacent to Smeaton bridge displays a fire insurance plaque (actually a replica as the original one was stolen). Probably the smallest plaque in our records , the plaque is above the door below the central upper window. It is the mark of the Sun Fire Office with the property’s registration number, 10154, at the bottom.
Fire insurance marks were used in the eighteenth and nineteenth century prior to the introduction of municipal fire services. They were fixed to the front of insured buildings as a guide to an insurance company’s fire brigade. The plaques bore the emblem of the company which insured that particular building.
If an insurance company’s Fire Brigade found the plaque of a rival company on a building, they might choose not to put out the fire or else they would extinguish the blaze and charge the insuring company.
The first company to use the mark was the Sun Fire Office which was established in 1710. Cast metal plaques were made of iron, lead, or sometimes brass.
