The Great Fire of London
London, from Sunday, 2 september to Wednesday, 5 september 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of
inside the old Roman city wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles
Cathedral and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70,000
II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's
of the Cyti's 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll is unknown but traditionally thought to have been small, as only
six verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of
poor and middle-class people were not recorded, while the heat of the fire may have cremated many victims
leaving no recognisable remains. A melted piece of pottery on display at the Museum of London found by
archaeologists in Pudding Lane, where the fire started, shows that the temperature reached 1700 °C.
The Great Fire started at the bakery of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor) on Pudding Lane, shortly after midnight
on Sunday, 2 September, and spread rapidly west across the City of London. The use of the major firefighting
technique of the time, the creation of firebreaks by means of demolition, was critically delayed owing to the
indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were
ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm which defeated such
measures.
The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose
of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's
enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of
lynchings and street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over most of the City, destroying St Paul's Cathedral
and leaping the River Fleet to threaten Charles II's court at Whitehall, while coordinated firefighting efforts were
simultaneously mobilising. The battle to quench the fire is considered to have been won by two factors: the strong
east winds died down, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks to halt
further spread eastward.