Beyond living memory: the Great Fire of London
History · Key Stage 1 · The School
What happened
The fire began in a bakery on Pudding Lane on 2 September 1666 and burned for four days. It destroyed around 13,000 houses and old St Paul's Cathedral. Remarkably few deaths were officially recorded, though historians think the true number among the poorest was higher and simply never counted.
Why it spread
Houses were timber-framed, packed close, with upper floors jutting out so roofs nearly touched across the street. There had been a long dry summer, a strong east wind was blowing, and the only firefighting method was pulling houses down to make gaps — which the Lord Mayor delayed doing.
How we know
Samuel Pepys kept a diary and wrote about the fire as it happened, including burying his cheese and wine in the garden. A diary is a PRIMARY SOURCE — written by someone who was there at the time. It is valuable and still not neutral: Pepys wrote what he saw and what he cared about, not a complete account.
September 1666. Houses were timber-framed with pitch coatings, built with upper storeys jutting out so that opposite roofs nearly touched. There had been a long dry summer, and a strong east wind was blowing. Firefighting meant leather buckets and pulling houses down with hooks — and the Lord Mayor delayed doing that. Five causes, and the fire needed all five: change any one and the city might have been saved.