One was the hot, dry but also windy weather, causing fire to blow through the city. Another is the densely packed wooden houses that couldn’t resist the flames. Finally, there was no national fire service to be called upon to tackle the blaze, so the general public had to throw buckets of water to try and put it out.
Why did the Great Fire of London spread so quickly?
The fire spread easily because London was very dry after a long, hot summer. The area around Pudding Lane was full of warehouses containing highly flammable things like timber, rope and oil. A very strong easterly wind blew the fire from house to house in the narrow streets.
What was used to put out the Great Fire of London?
In 1666 there was no organised fire brigade. Firefighting was very basic with little skill or knowledge involved. Leather buckets, axes and water squirts were used to fight the fire – but had little effect.
Who was blamed for the Great London fire?
In 1986, London’s bakers finally apologized to the lord mayor for setting fire to the city. Members of the Worshipful Company of Bakers gathered on Pudding Lane and unveiled a plaque acknowledging that one of their own, Thomas Farrinor, was guilty of causing the Great Fire of 1666.
Could the Great Fire of London happen again?
The aftermath
People were still clearing the area for years to come, and a lot of dedicated time went into planning new street layouts and drawing up new regulations for buildings so it wouldn’t happen again. By the end of 1667, only 150 new houses had been built to replace the 13,200 homes that were destroyed.
How long did it take to put out the Great Fire of London?
The fire ravaged through London for four days, finally ending on Wednesday 5 th September 1666.
Is Pudding Lane still in London?
Pudding Lane is a small street in London, widely known as the location of Thomas Farriner’s bakery, where the Great Fire of London started in 1666. It runs between Eastcheap and Thames Street in the historic City of London, and intersects Monument Street, the site of Christopher Wren’s Monument to the Great Fire.
What did the Great Fire of London smell like?
The Great Fire of London started in a street more famous for disgusting smells of gutted animal remains, not the fragrant aromas of baking bread.
Was the Great Fire of London a good thing?
Although the Great Fire was a catastrophe, it did cleanse the city. The overcrowded and disease ridden streets were destroyed and a new London emerged. A monument was erected in Pudding Lane on the spot where the fire began and can be seen today, where it is a reminder of those terrible days in September 1666.
What did London look like before the Great Fire?
The City of London was full of narrow streets and wooden houses. While brick and stone houses did exist, many houses were made of wood and leaned over into the narrow streets. Most people lived in the same buildings as their businesses so homes often included shops, workshops, industrial premises and stores.
Why were Catholics blamed for the Great Fire of London?
London was also a refuge for foreign Protestants fleeing persecution in their majority Catholic homelands, including the Flemish and French Huguenots. That people believed that the city was under attack, that the fire was the plot of either the Dutch or the French, was logical, not paranoia.
How were Catholics blamed for the Great Fire of London?
In 1681, a plaque blaming papists for the fire was erected in Pudding Lane. It had to be removed in the 18th century, not as it offended Catholics, but as it caused congestion as people stopped to read it. An inscription on the Monument itself, also blaming the Roman church, wouldn’t be removed until the 1830s.
Did Catholics start the Great Fire of London?
But Catholics weren’t alone in taking the blame for starting the Great Fire of London. Soon the people had found another scapegoat – and that was God himself who, it was claimed, was wreaking his vengeance on Charles’s court for its decadence.
Did any houses survive the Great Fire of London?
41 and 42 Cloth Fair
The oldest house in the City it was built sometime between 1597 and 1614. It was protected from the fire by the walls of the nearby St. Bartholomew’s priory. It’s actually the only ‘house’ to have survived.
What did London look like after the Great Fire?
The street layout mostly remained the same, and within 10 years the area ravaged by fire had been rebuilt, bringing new architecture to the old city quickly and on a large scale. In all, Wren oversaw the rebuilding of 52 churches, 36 company halls, and the memorial to the great fire, Monument.
Who was king when the Great Fire of London happened?
King Charles II
On Tuesday, King Charles II ordered that houses and shops be pulled down to stop the fire from spreading. By Wednesday, they had the fire under control.
How hot was the Great Fire of London?
approximately 3092 degrees Fahrenheit
Archaeologists studying damaged artifacts from the Great London Fire determined that the blaze reached temperatures around 1700 degrees Celsius, approximately 3092 degrees Fahrenheit.
How tall was the great London fire?
202 feet
Its total height is 202 feet, stated in the inscrition on the north panel of the pedestal to be equal to its distance eastward from the site to the house of the King’s baker in Pudding Lane where the fire began.
What was the worst day of the Great Fire of London?
Tuesday 4 September 1666
When they woke on Tuesday 4 September 1666, Londoners must have felt like they had spent the last two days in hell.
What is Petticoat Lane called now?
This is one of the city’s oldest and most famous markets and is located in the Spitalfields area of East London. Rather confusingly, the street Petticoat Lane does not actually exist anymore. This was because prudish Victorians were keen to avoid reference to undergarments, so they renamed it Middlesex Street in 1846.
Is there a plaque on Pudding Lane?
There is a plaque on the wall showing the approximate place of the original bakery that started it all. Owned by Thomas Farriner who lived above it, he was woken up by smoke coming under his door and realised that his house was on fire.