Golden Boy of Pye Corner
Encyclopedia
Giltspur Street
Giltspur Street is a street in Smithfield, London, running north-south from the junction of Newgate Street, Holborn Viaduct, and Old Bailey up to West Smithfield, and it is bounded to the east by St Bartholomew's Hospital...
and Cock Lane
Cock Lane
Cock Lane is a small street in Smithfield, London, leading from Giltspur Street to the east to Snow Hill, to the west. In the medieval period it was known as Cokkes Lane and was the site of legal brothels...
in Smithfield, London
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
.
It was erected where the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
(1666) stopped and it bears the following inscription:
This Boy is in Memmory Put up for the late FIRE of LONDON Occasion'd by the Sin of GluttonyGluttonyGluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste...
.
The statue was originally built into the front of a public house called The Fortune of War
The Fortune of War Public House
The Fortune of War was an ancient public house in Smithfield, London.It was located on a corner originally known as Pie Corner, today at the junction of Giltspur Street and Cock Lane, the name deriving from the magpie represented on the sign of an adjoining tavern.The Fortune of War on Pie Corner...
which used to occupy this site but was demolished in 1910.