The Great Fire of London took place in 1666. London in 1666 was very different to London in 2012 in several ways. The streets not like the wide spacious roads we see today they were narrow, cramped, and were brimming with waste. The streets ran in all sorts of directions connected by small alleys and lanes and the two story houses hung over the streets often with large painted signs blocking out the light, making it very dark . Houses were not made of bricks and stone they were mainly thatched houses. The difference between the rich and poor was enormous as people in the small streets of London lived in great poverty struggling to earn enough money to feed their families, whereas the rich lived in beautiful grand houses and ate rich foods. The risk of fire in the 1660’s was great, the majority of people lived in wooden houses with thatched roofs and candles were used massively as a source of light.
The story of the Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London began in Pudding Lane on the 2nd of September, 1666. The fire started in a baker’s shop owned by Thomas Farynor, who happened to be the King Charles II’s baker. Thomas' maid failed to put out the fire in the ovens at the end of the night. The heat that the ovens created caused sparks and these ignited the wooden house. When the maid realised the fire had begun she panicked and tried to climb out of the building, unfortunately she failed becoming one of the five people to die in the fire. Once it had begun the fire took hold quickly
with strong easterly winds blowing it from house to house with only small streets dividing the wooden buildings. The blazing fire continued through both Monday and Tuesday and spread all the way to London bridge, St Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Exchange. King Charles II decided that the best way to stop the fire from spreading even further was to create what was known as a "fire break" this meant pulling down houses using fire hooks to create gaps between houses so that the flames couldn't spread across, however the strong winds blew the flames across these gaps allowing the fire to continue to destroy London. The biggest fear was that the fire would spread across the River Thames and destroy the south side of the city as well. Fortunately the wind had a change of direction and the flames were blown back on themselves into the already burnt part of London. The flames had nothing to burn and eventually died out.
The story of the Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London began in Pudding Lane on the 2nd of September, 1666. The fire started in a baker’s shop owned by Thomas Farynor, who happened to be the King Charles II’s baker. Thomas' maid failed to put out the fire in the ovens at the end of the night. The heat that the ovens created caused sparks and these ignited the wooden house. When the maid realised the fire had begun she panicked and tried to climb out of the building, unfortunately she failed becoming one of the five people to die in the fire. Once it had begun the fire took hold quickly
with strong easterly winds blowing it from house to house with only small streets dividing the wooden buildings. The blazing fire continued through both Monday and Tuesday and spread all the way to London bridge, St Paul's Cathedral and the Royal Exchange. King Charles II decided that the best way to stop the fire from spreading even further was to create what was known as a "fire break" this meant pulling down houses using fire hooks to create gaps between houses so that the flames couldn't spread across, however the strong winds blew the flames across these gaps allowing the fire to continue to destroy London. The biggest fear was that the fire would spread across the River Thames and destroy the south side of the city as well. Fortunately the wind had a change of direction and the flames were blown back on themselves into the already burnt part of London. The flames had nothing to burn and eventually died out.