We asked for a link between the Great Fire of London and Wanstead. We had some answers, though not yet the one we were after.
So far we have had this from regular contributor Juan Stead:
Did you know that after the Great Fire, a May Pole that had stood in the present-day Strand / Temple area, was salvaged by Sir Isaac Newton and taken to Wanstead Park, where he used it to support his new telescope. Apparently it was over 100 feet high.
We don’t know if it’s true, by the way, but it wasn’t what we were after. But there was also this from Tom King on Twitter:
@Wansteadium ah! Owner of wanstead house in 1666 was chairman in the parliament inquiry into the fire. Sir Robert Brooke, drownd 3 yrs later
— Tom King (@zgap118) September 6, 2016
That’s not it either. Clue: it relates to Pepys. Further answers in the normal manner please.
Was it that Samuel Pepys once visited Wanstead House?
From his diary of 14th May 1665 (Lord’s Day)
“…and I took a coach, and to Wanstead, the house where Sir H. Mildmay died, and now Sir Robert Brookes lives, having bought it of the Duke of Yorke, it being forfeited to him. A fine seat, but an old-fashioned house; and being not full of people looks desolately….”
M&S Food was going to open but the paperwork got destroyed and alas, the rest is history.
Is the trivia answer – Pepys buried his Parmesan cheese to save it from the fire in 1666 and now we have a shop in Wanstead (Bombetta) selling Parmesan cheeses??