The Great Fire of London
in 1666
Why is The Great Fire Important?
This event lasted a total of four days, from Sunday the second of September, to Wednesday the fifth. London lost nearly 13,000 houses, that left about 100,000 people homeless. More than four-fifths of London was destroyed, including about 90 churches. Samuel Pepys had said, "It made me weep to see it." as he saw what was happening, all of the people fleeing from their homes at the very last second.
Central London 1666
with the area that was burnt down in pink.
The Old London Bridge
as seen from a boat.
What Happened Each Day?
Early Sunday morning was when the fire started. The fire had been started in the house of King Charles ll's baker's house, Thomas Farrinor. Thomas had not put out the fire in the oven correctly when he had gone to bed. His family had been stuck up stairs and were forced to climb out the window, all but the maid escaped. The maid had been too frightened to climb down, she became the first victim. When the authorities arrived their main idea was to take down all of the adjoining houses to prevent further damage, though the house owners disagreed. This caused the authorities to override their wishes. The fire had spread north and west on Monday. The fire had halted when it reached the river, but it was threatening to cross over. Tuesday is mainly known as the day of destruction. A lot of people had gone to the St. Paul's Cathedral, because it was thought to be a safe haven. Sadly, the safe haven didn't go so well because the building was covered in wooden scaffolding so it ended up catching fire later that night. On Wednesday the wind slowed down and the fire was finally put out. Fire hooks and buckets of water was the peoples way of putting out the fire.
The fire raged on for four days, destroying the homes of 100,000 citizens of London and 87 churches. It had gotten many people killed, both directly and indirectly. Charles ll actually told his people to leave London in fear of rebellion, causing a loss of population. The reconstruction period lasted many years, but it lead to a cleaner and healthier London.
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