A DEVASTATING fire that ripped through 17th century Dorchester may be commemorated with the erection of a plaque.

Members of Dorchester Town Council's joint heritage committee have agreed in principle that a plaque should mark the great fire of 1613 although details have yet to be decided.

It has been suggested that the plaque should be erected near the site of the current Nationwide Building Society in High West Street, believed by some to be the area in which the blaze first broke out.

The minutes of a previous committee meeting state that members felt the fire should be commemorated with a plaque but that it was essential for the location to be correct'.

The chairman of Dorchester Civic Society, Derek Beauchamp, said: "It is something that if it gets the go-ahead I would like to be involved in.

"There is a bit of vagueness surrounding where the fire actually started, so that would have to be sorted out before anything gets put up. It was a significant event in the history of the town and a large part of the reason why so few timber-framed buildings have survived to this day."

Mr Beauchamp added that there should not be too great a problem' to identify where the plaque should be placed and pointed out that a monument marking the starting point of the Great Fire of London is not in the exact location it began.

Deputy town clerk Steve Newman said more research into the exact location in which the fire began would have to be completed before a plaque is erected. He also said that many stages of work, including designing a plaque and getting listed building consent to erect it, would have to be completed before a plaque is put up.

Historians believe the 1613 blaze spread through Dorch-ester in a westerly direction, destroying around 170 houses.

Town councillors will discuss erecting a new batch of plaques - including one to mark the fire - around the town at a meeting on May 14.