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Considered by many as a disaster waiting to unfold, the Great Fire of London is undoubtedly one of the most infamous events in Stuart England’s history. It started its deadly path of destruction on the night of September 1, 1666.
In 1666, the city of London was predominantly made up of houses built from oak beams, coated in flammable tar to shield them from rain. These homes were packed tightly along narrow streets, and the only form of firefighting was the “bucket brigades” – local groups with basic leather pails and rudimentary hand-pumps. At the time, many viewed the Great Fire as an inevitable catastrophe, and the citizens of London had been urged to inspect their homes for fire hazards.
Here are ten truly strange and fascinating facts about the Great Fire of London.
10. It Was the Second Major Disaster to Strike the City in Just One Year
The Great Fire of London ignited at a time when the city was just beginning to rebuild after the devastating impact of The Great Plague. Only a year prior, London had lost an estimated 100,000 people—almost a quarter of its population—due to a deadly outbreak of bubonic plague, which, at its peak, claimed up to 8,000 lives each week.
The Great Plague of 1665, caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium and spread primarily through the bites of infected rat fleas, was fortunately the last major outbreak of bubonic plague in England. It wasn’t until February 1666 that the city was deemed safe enough for the return of King Charles II and his court.
9. The Fire, Themed Around Food, Began in Pudding Lane, Set by the King's Baker, and Ended at Pie Corner
After a long day's work, the King's baker, Thomas Farriner, tucked in the coals in the bakery hearth and went upstairs to bed above his bakery on Pudding Lane shortly before midnight on Saturday, September 1, 1666. Not long after, the coals reignited and the Great Fire began. Farriner, his daughter Hanna, and a manservant managed to escape through an upstairs window to a neighbor’s house. Tragically, the maid, whose name remains unknown, was unable to flee and perished in the flames, becoming the first victim of the fire.
The fire was finally extinguished four days later, on Wednesday, September 6, at the corner of Cock Lane and Giltspur Street, known as Pye (or Pie) Corner. A small gilded statue of a child, The Golden Boy of Pye Corner, still stands there today as a memorial to the Great Fire of London. The statue carries the inscription, ‘This Boy is in Memory put up for the late Fire of London Occasion’d by the Sin of Gluttony.’
8. The Lord Mayor of London Failed to Treat the Fire Seriously
In the early hours of September 2, as the fire began to spread, London's Lord Mayor, Thomas Bloodworth, arrived at the scene in Pudding Lane. Citing the cost, he refused to authorize the demolition of the surrounding buildings, an action that would have likely contained the fire.
Lord Mayor Bloodworth, dismissing the fire as insignificant, famously declared, ‘A woman might piss it out!’ He then turned and returned to the safety and comfort of his bed, leaving the city to face its fate. His actions and attitude have since been heavily criticized, and he is widely blamed for the extensive damage caused to London.
7. The Great Fire of London Was Not the First
While the Great Fire of 1666 remains the most infamous and devastating fire in London’s history, it was by no means the first catastrophic blaze.
London’s history is full of notable fires. As far back as A.D. 60, Boudica and the Iceni tribe are believed to have burned the city to the ground. Other significant fires occurred in 675, 989, 1087, 1135 (the year the famous London Bridge was destroyed), and in 1212, when the Great Fire of Southwark claimed the lives of an estimated 3,000 people according to John Stow's 1603 account, though some historians question this figure.
6. Samuel Pepys Buried Cheese in His Garden Before Escaping the Fire's Path
We owe a tremendous debt to Samuel Pepys and his meticulous record-keeping. Throughout the 1660s, he maintained a detailed daily journal. His personal diaries, first published in 1825, are now considered one of the most important eyewitness accounts and primary sources documenting both The Great Plague and The Great Fire of London.
As the fire advanced, Pepys, along with many others, took steps to safeguard his most prized possessions. One such item was a wheel of Italian Parmesan cheese, a luxury highly regarded by the elite of the time. In his diary entry from Tuesday, September 4, 1666, Pepys recounts burying his wine and cheese in a pit in his garden to protect them. The ultimate fate of the cheese remains unknown.
5. The Fire Did Indeed Completely Annihilate St. Paul’s Cathedral
It has often been believed that St. Paul’s Cathedral, the spiritual center of the city, survived the Great Fire of London completely unscathed. However, this is a misconception. Although the iconic domed landmark withstood the German bombings of World War II, the medieval cathedral, which had been constructed in 1240, was entirely destroyed by the fire on Tuesday, September 3, 1666.
Ironically, Sir Christopher Wren, the architect responsible for its redesign, had attended a meeting at the cathedral just days before, on August 27, 1666, to discuss its restoration. Only eight days later, the building was consumed by the flames, as the fire spread to the timber scaffolding supporting the structure.
Many saw the cathedral’s thick, five-foot stone walls and open space surrounding it as a sanctuary from the fire. However, the cathedral’s crypts, which housed books and documents for safekeeping, only contributed to the inferno. Even a week after the fire, the books were still burning.
By 8:00 p.m., the fire had reached the roof, which spanned a vast six acres. The lead covering the roof melted quickly, and within half an hour, the molten lead cascaded down into the cathedral’s nave, spilling onto the streets and flowing down Ludgate Hill like liquid lava. As diarist John Evelyn described it, “the melting lead running down the streets, and the very pavements glowing with fiery redness, so as no horse, nor man, was able to tread on them.”
In addition to being tasked with designing the replacement cathedral, Sir Christopher Wren was also responsible for creating "The Monument," which was constructed to honor the Great Fire. This towering structure reaches 202 feet (62 meters), exactly the distance between its base and the point where the fire began in Pudding Lane.
4. The Fire's Astonishingly Low Death Toll
The sheer scale of the destruction wrought by the fire was absolutely staggering. The blaze ravaged 85% of London, covering an area roughly 1 by 1.5 miles (1.6 by 2.4 km). A total of 87 parish churches and at least 13,200 homes were completely lost, forcing over 100,000 people to flee the city. Many escaped southward across the River Thames or to areas such as Clerkenwell, Finsbury, and Islington. The 1673 census showed that a quarter of these evacuees never returned to London.
Despite the colossal damage, only six deaths were officially recorded. Remarkably, more people have lost their lives from falling off The Monument, which was erected to commemorate the fire, than during the fire itself. It's believed the true death toll was much higher, especially considering that deaths among the poorer classes were not documented. Furthermore, the extreme heat of the blaze, which reached temperatures of 3000 degrees Fahrenheit (1650 degrees Celsius), was so intense that it could have reduced human remains to ash, making it unlikely any bodies survived.
320 years after the infamous fire, bakers finally expressed their regrets for the disaster. In 1986, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of King Henry VII’s grant of the Royal Charter to the Worshipful Company of Bakers, John Copeman, then Master of the Company, revealed a commemorative plaque at the corner of Pudding Lane and Monument Street, not far from the site of Thomas Farriner’s bakery. This plaque formally acknowledged the role of a fellow baker in sparking the Great Fire of London, a tragedy that occurred centuries earlier. The Lord Mayor of London, Allen Davis, aptly stated, 'It’s never too late to apologize.'
In 1986, marking the 500th anniversary of the Worshipful Company of Bakers' Royal Charter granted by King Henry VII in 1486, John Copeman, the Master of the Company, unveiled a plaque on the corner of Pudding Lane and Monument Street, only a few feet away from Thomas Farriner’s bakery. This plaque was significant as it acknowledged the role of a fellow baker in starting the Great Fire of London, an event that occurred 320 years before. Allen Davis, the Lord Mayor of London, remarked, 'It’s never too late to apologize.'
The Great Fire of London is often credited with inspiring the creation of the insurance industry, as the catastrophic event demonstrated the need for risk management and coverage against unforeseen disasters.
The fire caused an estimated £10 million worth of property damage (equivalent to approximately £1.5 billion or US$1.9 billion today). During this period, tenancy agreements stipulated that it was the tenants, not the property owners, who were responsible for repairs and rebuilding the homes. Tenants were even expected to continue paying rent during the reconstruction of their burned houses.
In response to this demand, Nicholas Barbon founded the 'Fire Office,' the first insurance company, in 1680. This initiative was soon followed by the establishment of other insurance firms. By 1690, one in ten homes in London was insured against fire. By 1720, 17,000 policies had been issued, totaling £10 million—matching the estimated damage cost of the fire.
1. A Wrongly Accused Man Was Executed for Allegedly Starting the Fire
Robert Hubert, a naive French watchmaker in his twenties, falsely confessed to being a French spy and an agent of the Pope. He claimed responsibility for igniting the fire in Westminster, even though the flames never reached that part of London. When confronted with the truth that the fire started at Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane, he then claimed to have thrown a homemade firebomb through an open window. It was later revealed that Hubert was not even in England when the fire broke out—he was aboard a Swedish ship and did not arrive in the UK until two days after the fire had started.
Despite his clear innocence and the fact that few believed his confession, there was a desperate need to find a scapegoat for the fire. As a result, Hubert was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death by the courts of the Old Bailey. On October 27, 1666, he was hanged at Tyburn, London. Later, when his body was handed over to the Company of Barber-Surgeons for dissection, it was violently seized by an enraged mob of Londoners, who tore it apart in fury.
