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London before 1666 -

London in the 1660s was the largest city in England, and the third largest in the Western world.

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London, c. 1630 -

Up to 400,000 people lived in London during the 1600s, many crammed within the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. This image depicts London c. 1630, viewed from Southwark on the south bank of the River Thames, spanned by London Bridge. The gothic tower of St Paul's Cathedral is clearly visible on the far bank.

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London, c. 1666 -

By 1659, the city had expanded beyond the Roman wall in a largely unplanned and makeshift manner, far enough west, in fact, to include the independent City of Westminster. Pictured is the Parliament building, Guildhall, and Westminster Abbey.

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Slum city -

This unregulated urban sprawl inevitably created squalid, extramural slum conditions. The poorest were living on top of each other in houses mostly made of timber topped with thatch and highly inflammable pitch.

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Fueled by flame -

London in the 17th century was fueled by flame. Fire was used for cooking, heating, and illumination. Lanterns carried by night watchmen, for example—whose duties ironically included patrolling the streets for any signs of fire—were lit by candles. And, indeed, the overcrowded warren of narrow, winding, and cobbled alleys served as a veritable fire hazard.

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Polluted and unhealthy -

By 1666, the City of London was traffic-clogged, polluted, and extremely unhealthy, especially after it was stricken by a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague the previous year, the so-called Great Plague.

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The fire is sparked -

A little after midnight on Sunday, September 2, 1666, a fire broke out at a bakery in Pudding Lane belonging to Thomas Farriner. Fanned by strong winds, the fire quickly spread and soon engulfed the Farriners' property. The family escaped by climbing from an upstairs window to the house next door. Unfortunately the maidservant, too frightened to move, was unable to get out of the burning building and became the first victim of the smoke and flames.

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A raging inferno -

Initially, few were concerned. Fires were commonplace in the claustrophobic, tinder-dry streets. But the fire swiftly funneled its way down Pudding Lane and carried on down Fish Hill towards the River Thames. Panic ensued. What first appeared to be an isolated house fire was quickly turning into a raging inferno.

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About to blow up -

When the fire reached the river, flames began licking waterfront warehouses stocked with all sorts of combustible merchandise, including oil and tallow, a kind of wax.

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Firestorm -

By mid-morning on Sunday, frightened residents abandoned attempts at extinguishing the flames and fled. By the afternoon, the fire had become a raging firestorm that created its own weather.

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Fighting the fire -

Response by firefighters to the unfolding tragedy was slow. Inaction and poor leadership shown by London's mayor, Sir Thomas Bloodworth, would later be blamed as the reason why the fire wasn't tackled earlier. But the developing inferno ultimately proved too fierce for the clumsy and heavy pumps, and only some of them had wheels; others were mounted on wheelless sleds.

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London Bridge burns -

To make matters worse, the flames had crept beyond the riverfront and set alight the water wheels under London Bridge, eliminating the supply of piped water.

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Reduced to using fire buckets -

In desperation, frantic firefighters resorted to using leather buckets filled with river water in a futile attempt to douse the flames. But by now the heat was unbearable, and they were beaten back.

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The flames spreading further -

By Sunday evening, almost the entire medieval district of London was ablaze. The flames started to push outwards in a broad, bow-shaped arc, threatening more property and the capital's most treasured historical landmarks.

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Lucky to be alive -

This painting depicts the view from a boat in the vicinity of Tower Wharf. In the center, St Paul's Cathedral is engulfed in flames. On the left, the full moon rises over London Bridge, with the Tower of London on the right. In the foreground, huddle groups of bewildered residents are seen, now homeless but lucky to be alive.

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Deadly conflagration -

The deadly conflagration swept along the north bank of the River Thames, devouring in minutes residential and commercial property. In a desperate bid to escape the flames, people took to boats, with women and children being ferried by dozens of helping hands into waiting watercraft.

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Stopped going south -

From the River Thames, the full extent of the disaster would have become quickly apparent. London Bridge was ablaze, but fortunately the fire didn't spread south of the river—but only because another major fire in 1633 had already destroyed a section of the bridge.

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Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) -

One celebrated eyewitness to the Great Fire of London was the English diarist Samuel Pepys, who was also administrator of the Navy of England. It was Pepys who recommended to King Charles II that buildings be pulled down in order to create a firebreak. The monarch agreed, and he ordered the mayor to direct firefighters to demolish all structures downwind of the flames using fire hooks.

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Fighting fire with fire -

By Monday, the fire was still burning. Eventually the decision was made to use gunpowder in order to blow up buildings standing in the path of the still ferocious flames.

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Eyewitness account -

Pepys' harrowing firsthand account of what was taking place still makes for compelling reading. In his diary he records a "lamentable" fire, "everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging into the river or bringing them into lighters [a type of flat-bottomed barge] that lay off; poor people staying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another."

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Royal assistance -

Pepys recorded in his diary that even King Charles II was seen helping to put out the fire. The monarch is depicted in this engraving inspecting the scene with the Duke of York's party. In the same breadth, however, he pours scorn on the mayor, describing Bloodworth near to collapse, "like a fainting woman."

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Monday and Tuesday -

By Monday afternoon the flames had turned north and were menacing the financial heart of the City of London. Suddenly, London's wealthy and fashionable districts were under threat. Tuesday, however, proved the most destructive day of the fire, during which many great and iconic buildings were lost forever.

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St Paul's Cathedral -

The most obvious architectural casualty was St Paul's Cathedral. The wonder of medieval London, this was the fourth cathedral to stand on the site, completed in 1314. In 1561 its spire was destroyed by lightning, an event that Roman Catholic writers claimed was a sign of God's judgment on England's Protestant rulers. When it burnt down on the third day of the fire, a local thunderstorm broke out. The forks of apocalyptic lightning radiating from the blazing building again solicited gasps of panic and dismay from a God-fearing public who believed a greater force was at work.

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Bridewell Palace -

Bridewell Palace was another material victim of the fire. Completed in 1520 as a London residence of King Henry VIII, Bridewell was set on the banks of the River Fleet between Fleet Street and the River Thames. It later became an orphanage and a hospital of sorts before being decimated on the third day of the fire.

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Castle Baynard -

Castle Baynard, built in the 13th century, overlooked the River Thames within the City of London. Its solid, brooding outlook was thought by many to be impervious to flame and heat, but it too fell victim to the astonishing ferocity of the fire. One round tower did survive, only to be demolished centuries later.

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The Royal Exchange -

Founded in 1571, the original Royal Exchange stood as a symbol of England's burgeoning trading empire. This was Britain's first specialist commercial building and featured colonnaded walks and a finely pebbled courtyard. It was lost on September 3, consumed by a sheet of fire. It was quickly rebuilt in 1669, but incredibly was again destroyed by flames in 1838. The site is currently occupied by a third exchange.

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Steelyard -

The Steelyard served as the main depot of the Hanseatic League (an economic alliance of German cities) in London during the 15th and 16th centuries. This dockside of wharves, warehouses, stores, lodgings, and other buildings was an early victim of the fire, razed to the ground on the first night after the flames had spread down from Pudding Lane. The site today is occupied by Cannon Street railway station.

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The fire is finally extinguished -

Fortuitously, by Wednesday the strong east wind had eased considerably and on Thursday, four days after it had started, the majority of the fire was extinguished. The extent of the flames is illustrated on this map by a broken line, extending beyond the old Roman wall into the district of Farringdon Without, the most westerly ward of the City of London.

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Casualty figures -

Surprisingly, few people lost their lives in the actual fire. However, the numbers likely to have perished in the wake of the disaster, from the effects of burns, smoke inhalation, hunger, or exposure, were not recorded.

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Material loss -

Material destruction was staggering. Besides the historical buildings already mentioned, up to 13,500 houses were destroyed, along with 87 parish churches, 44 company halls, a number of city prisons, and London's three western city gates—Ludgate, Newgate, and Aldersgate. The monetary value of the loss was estimated at around £9–10 million, equivalent today to an eye-watering £1.72 billion (over US$2.2 billion).

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A new London -

The social and economic problems created by the disaster were overwhelming, not least what to do with the 50,000 homeless. Christopher Wren's elegant 1667 proposal to rebuild London (pictured) was quickly rejected (he would later design the new St Paul's Cathedral, today one of the most iconic buildings in the world). The idea instead was to rebuild London as quickly, practically, and safely as possible. New homes were built using brick rather than wood and stone. Strict regulations for the design of houses were drawn up and enforced, which led to the creation of the terraced house—one of Britain's great domestic architectural achievements. Image: Geographicus Fine Antique Maps

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London Fire Brigade -

The Great Fire of London led to the first commercial pooling and protection against risk, with insurance first appearing as fire insurance. Later, private firefighting efforts led the insurance companies in 1832 to form a combined firefighting unit that would eventually become the London Fire Brigade.

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Source of the fire -

The City of London today is unrecognizable from that of 350-plus years ago. But there are reminders of that fateful September day back in 1666. Pudding Lane, for example, the source of the inferno, still exists.

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Visiting the site -

Signs and plaques can be found in the City of London indicating the vicinity of the fire. This one reads: "Opposite this site stood St. Margaret Fish Street Hill destroyed in the Great Fire 1666."

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Monument to the Great Fire of London -

But the most tangible symbol of the disaster is the Monument to the Great Fire of London. Designed by Christopher Wren and fellow architect Robert Hook and completed in 1677, it stands 61 m (202 ft ) tall and is set west of the spot in Pudding Lane where the fire started. A viewing platform provides inspiring—and imaginative—views of the City of London below. 

Sources: (Britannica) (London Fire Brigade) (History) (The National Archives)

See also: Sightseeing London's Square Mile

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