Memorial day - 51

The subject of today's blog is, like the last two weeks, located in the Smithfield area of London.

Walking south from Smithfield Market along Giltspur Street, towards the Old Bailey - the Central Criminal Court, on the left side you come across an appropriately named road. Look up and you see the figure of the Golden Boy. It was erected to mark the point where in 1666 the Great Fire of London was stopped from spreading further north.

The figure of a fat boy was meant to signify the belief that the fire was God's punishment for Londoner's indulgence in gluttony.

The statue was originally erected in the front wall of the Fortune of War pub. The establishment was notorious for the part it played in former times in body snatching. The Resurrectionists would bring bodies to the pub to be purchased by the surgeons from Saint Bartholomew's Hospital located across the road.

Now for the final question. I made reference to the appropriately named road. What came first the Boy or Cock Lane?