Nantwich is a market town and civil parish now in the unitary authority of Cheshire East. On 10 December 1583 a fire broke out in a bakery owned by John Crewe, on Waterlode. Owing to strong winds and the close proximity of the predominantly timber-framed buildings, the blaze spread rapidly. It raged for 20 days, destroying 150 buildings and leaving 900 residents homeless, about half the population of the town, but there were only two fatalities, both of them women.^[1][2][3]

Queen Elizabeth I took a personal interest in the town’s subsequent reconstruction, and ordered a nationwide collection to raise funds for the rebuilding work, to which she contributed £1,000, equivalent to about £337,000 as at 2025.^[1][a]Calculated using the GDP Deflator.^[4] The rebuilt Queen’s Aid House in Nantwich Square has a plaque memorialising Elizabeth’s contribution to the town’s reconstruction.^[1]

The subsequent reconstruction of Nantwich followed the plan of the original town,^[5] but made efforts to reduce the risk of future fires by rebuilding timber-framed houses with brick infill, and with tiled roofs instead of thatch.^[2]