Great Fire of London
Years: 1666 - 1666
The Great Fire of London is a major conflagration that sweeps through the central parts of the English city of London from Sunday, September 2 to Wednesday, September 5, 1666.
The fire guts the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall.
It threatens but does not reach the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums.
It consumes thirteen thousand two hundred houses, eighty-seven parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities.
It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of seventy thousand of the City's eighty thousand 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 starts at the bakery of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor) on Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday, September 2, and spreads rapidly west across the City of London.
The major firefighting technique of the time is to create firebreaks by means of demolition; this, however, is critically delayed owing to the indecisiveness of Lord Mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time that large-scale demolitions are ordered on Sunday night, the wind has already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm that defeats such measures.
The fire pushes north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets breaks down as rumours arise of suspicious foreigners setting fires.
The fears of the homeless focuss on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups become victims of lynchings and street violence.
The fire spreads on Tuesday 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 are simultaneously mobilizing.
The battle to quench the fire is considered to have been won by two factors: the strong east winds die down, and the Tower of London garrison uses gunpowder to create effective firebreaks to halt further spread eastward.
The social and economic problems created by the disaster are overwhelming. Evacuation from London and resettlement elsewhere are strongly encouraged by Charles II, who fears a London rebellion among the dispossessed refugees.
Despite numerous radical proposals, London is reconstructed on essentially the same street plan used before the fire.