THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

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The Fire

The Great Fire broke out during the early hours of 2 September 1666 on Pudding Lane in the premises of Farriers, the Bakers to the King. Aided by easterly winds, the fire spread quickly. Only nine lives were known to have been lost to the conflagration. 89 churches, 44 guild halls, and over 13,000 houses were destroyed by it. 80,000 people were left homeless. Only about 75 acres of the City remained unburned.

The Guildhall survived the Great Fire

A small gilt figure of a boy on the corner-house of Cock Lane, Smithfield, marks Pye Corner, where the Great Fire is believed to have stopped. A plaque attributes the fire to the Sin of Gluttony .

London s City wall acted as a fire break for the suburbs that lay outside of them.

Surviving Churches

Among the churches that survived the Fire were: All Hallows by the Tower, St Botolph-without-Aldersgate in Aldersgate Street, and St Olave Hart Street.

All Hallows was saved through the efforts of Sir William Penn, a former Cromwellian admiral.

Location: St Olave, 8 Hart Street, EC3R 7NB (blue, orange)

See Also: CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES St Olave's Hart Street; PERIOD PROPERTIES City of London Hostelries

The Rebuilding of London

Much of the capital for the physical rebuilding of London was released by ground landlords agreeing to forego the income that they would have otherwise have received. This enabled tenants to spend this money upon constructing new properties. As a result, a number of the City's social institutions experienced a severe drop in their incomes. Therefore, they became less active. In turn, in the late 17^thC and early 18^thC, Londoners became more inclined to set up new organisations and societies that sought to address social concerns.

To help raise finance to rebuild the City, the Corporation was empowered to levy a tax upon all coal that was brought into the Port of London. 51 churches replaced the 89 that had been destroyed.

Mount Terrace, Whitechapel, takes its name from an artificial hill that was created in part by rubble collected after the Fire (and in part from defensive ramparts put up during the Civil Wars of the 1640s).

Following the conflagration King Street¹ and Queen Street were created to provide an approach to the Guildhall from the River Thames and perhaps also to create a firebreak within the City.

Location: King Street, EC2V 8EA (red, blue)

Mount Terrace, E1 2BB (blue, orange)

Queen Street, EC4R 1QS (purple, orange)

See Also: THE CITY OF LONDON The Impact of Great Fire Upon The Government of The City of London; COLUMNS The Monument; DEVELOPMENTS; GALLERIES The Guildhall Art Gallery; MENTAL HEALTH Bedlam; PHILANTHROPY; ST PAUL S CATHEDRAL; STREET FURNITURE Paving

¹. King Street was named to compliment King Charles II.