In the late C17, after the Great Fire of London of 1666, insurance companies were set up to provide fire protection for building owners. For an annual premium the companies made available their own fire service of men and machines to deal with fires at their insured buildings. In the early 1700s the companies began to mark their buildings with a "fire mark" or "fire plaque". These were made of thin copper plate, tinned iron sheet, or cast iron. The plaques made insured buildings more readily identifiable to the fire brigades and were a form of advertising. The Hand in Hand company was an early company founded in London in 1696. It was very successful, securing clients across the country. In 1905 it was incorporated in the Commercial Union Group. The plaque shown above is on an eighteenth century building in Monmouth.
photo © T. Boughen Camera: Lumix FZ1000 2
