In this guest post, I’m pleased to welcome Alicia Quesada. Alicia is a writer with a passion for history and a keen eye for detail. For the past eleven years, she has honed her writing skills, crafting compelling narratives. When she’s not immersed in the past, she finds solace in the methodical challenge of jigsaw puzzles.
Around 2:00 AM a scream rang out through a small street, a fire had started. On the sixth of September 1666, a man-made disaster swept through London for four full days, yet strangely it only took the lives of six people. How did the fire start, how is it that only six people died, and what was the aftermath: all this and more will be featured. Keep reading to find out more.
While not as booming today, London in 1666 was one of the biggest cities at the time, despite all the challenges the residents were facing. Just a year prior, London was hit by the plague killing over 75,000 people in just a year. Another thing to take into consideration was that at this time, fires were common. Homes were made of straw, wood, soil and animal faeces, add that to the fact that houses were packed together, and at the time, the weather produced little rain. It is easy to see why fires were considered a short-lived spectacle instead of the danger that they are.
Pudding Lane was considered an area you didn’t want to get lost in due to the high rate of crime in the area. Despite this, there were some very profitable businesses i.e. that of Thomas Farriner. Thomas owned a bakery and was commissioned by King Charles II to bake for the Naval Forces. During his trial, Thomas testified that the oven was fully extinguished. However at around 2 AM he awoke startled by the smell of smoke and realised the dire situation he and his family were in. The entire family made it out through the roof, everyone except the maid – who because of her fear of heights – stayed behind making her the first fatality.
As mentioned previously, fires were quite common, many people would travel to see them before they were put out. At the time there was no fire department and the city relied on heroic individuals and the Thames River to extinguish house fires. In the days during the fire there was strong wind that further pushed the fire. Since it was the middle of the night, many citizens of London had to wake themselves up before they could fight the fire, but by that time the water pump to the Thames River was destroyed by flames, leaving the fate of the city in God’s hands.
By the time the water pumps were destroyed, the warden of a nearby church began ringing the church bell making everyone else in the town aware of the disaster. That church, and another one, would not survive the day. Despite this, when people heard of this fire, they thought that it was a quick fix, even the mayor of London, Sir Thomas Bludworth, was quoted saying “Pish, a woman could piss it out” when he was made aware of the fire.
If there was anybody unaware of the turmoil that was happening outside, they would be made aware soon. Many warehouses along the waterfront carried explosives, causing them to explode and inflict even more damage. In just a few hours 300 homes were destroyed, along with part of London Bridge. The heat was so intense that birds began falling from the sky.
Westminster Abbey was part of London but it was separated by the London Bridge. It was a Sunday so people were crowded by the church awaiting services. The citizens at Westminster Abbey were not affected at the time, however, they could see something was wrong. Their suspicions were confirmed when two men came running from the bridge and shouted about the fire. Mobs began to form and target random Catholics and the Dutch. On the first day a mob surrounded an innocent Frenchman and had him beaten with an iron bar.
King Charles II was already in hot water with the people of London. During the plague, just a year prior, he didn’t do anything and left London. When he was made aware of the fire he saw this as the time to get back in the people’s good graces. He ordered a messenger to go to the mayor and have him start pulling the houses down to stop the fire from spreading. When the messenger found Mayor Bludworth, he was crying and rejected the plan because he didn’t want to compensate the owners of the houses. More mobs began to form when the post office became engulfed. The post office was the only way of communication, many people used this as a reason to prove their thoughts that other individuals were at fault.
Despite the mayor’s protests, houses were torn down to not give the fire a path to go. On the third day, they opted for a much faster route, using gunpowder to blow up the houses. Also by the third day, an army of soldiers were called to assist in fighting the fire. Every day citizens supplied water and buckets. On the fourth day, the wind finally stopped and the soldiers were able to take control of the fire. By dawn on Thursday the fire was fully extinguished, leaving behind the ashes of buildings, animals and people.
The impact was devastating, 436 acres including over 13,000 homes and 87 churches were destroyed by the fire, and some places still smouldered for months after. Though the death count was only six, many believe that number to be much higher. Christopher Wren was the lead architect and commissioner in charge of rebuilding the city. He redesigned St. Paul’s Cathedral along with 51 churches and 9,000 homes, though only 150 houses were built by the end of the year. Christopher Wren apparently had many good design ideas for the city, but since most people just wanted their old houses back, they were rejected.
By 1667, the rubble was cleared and there were more regulations set. A tax on coal was created to pay for the rebuilding of public buildings, such as the post office and the churches. Houses had to be faced with brick. Streets were widened and two new streets were made, pavements and new sewers were laid and London’s quayside was improved.
The Great Fire of London stands as a stark reminder of the city’s vulnerability and resilience. It was a turning point, marking the end of an era and the dawn of a new, more fire-resistant London. The Monument, a towering Doric column designed by Wren and Robert Hooke, serves as a permanent memorial to the fire and a testament to the indomitable spirit of the city.
SOURCES
“Sir Christopher Wren.” The Monument, https://www.themonument.org.uk/discover/sir-christopher-wren
“History.” The Monument, www.themonument.org.uk/history
“The Great Fire of London FAQs.” The Monument, www.themonument.org.uk/great-fire-london-faqs.
“The Great Fire of London 1666 Collection.” Museum of London, www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/great-fire-london-1666#:~:text=There%20was%20no%20fire%20brigade.