London, 1666
Imagine London 350 years ago. The houses were made of wood. They were squeezed together along narrow, twisty streets. There were no cars, no fire engines, no electricity. People cooked over open fires in their kitchens.
It was a hot, dry summer that year. The wooden houses were as dry as kindling.
The spark on Pudding Lane
Sunday 2 September 1666. Late at night, in a small bakery on a street called Pudding Lane, the baker Thomas Farriner finished his work. He raked out the hot coals from his big bread oven and went up to bed.
But the coals were still glowing. Sometime in the small hours, sparks set light to wooden beams. By 1 in the morning, the bakery was on fire.
A small fire — at first
When people first saw the flames, the Lord Mayor of London came to look. He thought it wasn't very bad. "A woman could put it out!" he said, and went back to bed.
That was a big mistake. The fire spread to next door. Then the next. The strong east wind carried sparks onto new roofs. By dawn, a whole street was burning.
Five days of fire
For five whole days, the fire raged. People grabbed whatever they could and fled. Some carried their things in carts. Others piled belongings into boats on the River Thames. People watched from the hills outside London as their city burned.
One man, Samuel Pepys, wrote about it in his diary. We still have what he wrote — that's how we know so many details today.
King Charles's brave plan
King Charles II didn't just watch. He came to help, riding through the streets and handing out money to the firefighters.
Then he made a brave decision: pull down the houses in front of the fire. If there were no houses for the flames to jump to, the fire would stop.
It worked. By Thursday 6 September, the Great Fire was OUT.
The damage
The fire destroyed about 13,200 houses and 87 churches — including the huge St Paul's Cathedral. But here's the amazing thing: only 16 people are known to have died.
So much was lost — but London had survived.
A better London
After the fire, London was rebuilt — but better. The new houses were made of brick and stone (not wood). The new streets were wider. Sir Christopher Wren designed a beautiful new St Paul's Cathedral that you can still visit today.
And on Pudding Lane, a tall stone tower called The Monument was built. It marks the spot where the fire began — and it's still there, 350 years later.
That's the story of the Great Fire of London.
Well done!
You finished this lesson. You worked hard and learned something new today. 🎉
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