The Great Fire of London in 1666 destroyed 13,000 houses and nearly 100 churches, leading to social unrest. The fire started in a bakery and spread due to narrow streets and dry conditions. The Mayor’s failure to order demolition worsened the situation. The fire changed the city’s landscape, and architect Sir Christopher Wren rebuilt St. Paul’s Cathedral and 50 more churches.
The Great Fire of London was a fire that devastated the British city of London in 1666. Only 13,000 houses were destroyed, along with nearly 100 churches, and the fire created a flow of refugees that contributed significantly to social unrest in London and surroundings in the months after the fire. The Great Fire of London is widely regarded as a very important point in the history of the city, and in British history in general, as it had such a profound impact on 17th century British society.
At the time of the fire, London was still essentially a medieval city, but it had expanded dramatically. It was a city of extremely narrow streets, full of dead ends and narrow approaches, and most of the houses were of wood or wattle and daub. London had been hit by a drought, so the city was very dry, and a strong easterly wind set the stage for potentially devastating fire conditions.
On 2 September, a fire broke out in a bakery on Pudding Lane. The fire was reported and citizens arrived to begin putting it out, but they were unable to control it. The demolition of nearby buildings was advised to stop the fire, but the Mayor of London was afraid to give the order, so the fire continued, consuming much of the city within the historic Roman wall, and occasionally leaping through other boroughs . It took three days to put out the fire.
Firefighting was not as advanced in the 17th century as it is now, but some historians have suggested that if the demolition order had been given earlier, a firebreak might have been created. As it was, the fire was allowed to flow essentially unchecked through the city, spurring a mass evacuation across the Thames and creating thousands of refugees, many of whom were extremely angry at the loss of their homes.
Contemporary accounts of the Great Fire of London are actually quite detailed, thanks to diarists Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn, who both wrote extensively about the fire as they saw it. Few deaths were recorded, which some people have suggested may be because the deaths of impoverished Londoners likely went unnoticed and therefore unrecorded. The fire certainly changed the landscape of London forever and the Great Fire of London is commemorated in a number of London museums.
In the wake of the Great Fire of London, architect Sir Christopher Wren managed to get commissioned to rebuild St. Paul’s Cathedral, a well-known London landmark, and built 50 more churches in the demolished region. Wren was also commissioned to build the memorial to the fire, a major landmark in modern London.
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