The Golden Boy of Pye Corner
The Golden Boy of Pye Corner is a life-size gold statue of a small boy. The effigy is located in the City of London between St Paul’s Cathedral and Smithfield Market and marks the furthest extent of the Great Fire of 1666.
During the 17th century, this location - at the corner of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane and once known as Pye Corner - was considered one of London’s most disreputable sites. Indeed, Cock Lane (originally known as Cokkes Lane) was home to a number of legal brothels. Adhering to the notion that greed and intemperance brought about the Great Fire as a punishment from God, the Golden Boy was erected with the following inscription:
This Boy is in Memmory Put up for the late FIRE of LONDON Occasion’d by the Sin of Gluttony.
Originally, The Golden Boy was affixed to the front of a public house called The Fortune of War, which served as point of call for so called resurrectionists carrying out bodysnatching during the same era as the Great Fire. As anyone familiar with this area of London knows, The Fortune of War was situated eerily close to St Bartholomew’s Hospital. According to legend, the Fortune’s landlord worked as a go-between for both the snatchers and surgeons from St Bart’s. The Fortune of War was demolished in 1910, but the Golden Boy still remains.
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More info about MiNC Cock Lane