Index : G : Great Fire of London

Structure Sub-topic of: UK History Interesting Questions, Facts and Information There are a total of 30 general entries. Frequently Asked Questions & Answers There are 30 user-asked question matches ( goto )

Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information

Great Fire of London

Why did it take so long for the fire to be put out?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


Because there was no fire brigade. There had been laws set into place where each district of the city should have buckets and ladders ready for use in case of fire, but due to disuse most of the ladders were rotten and the buckets had been mislaid. Also strong winds made the fire spread far quicker than had been thought possible.



Who was Lord Mayor of London at the time of the fire?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


Thomas Bludworth. Although Bludworth was Lord Mayor at the time, he had little or no hand in dealing with the fire as nearly every decision he made was overruled by King Charles II.



Who kept a famous diary of events in London from 1660 to 1669?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


Samuel Pepys. Samuel Pepys was born in London in in 1633. His father was a tailor and his mother was the sister of a butcher in Whitechapel.



Whereabouts in London did the Great Fire of London start?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


Pudding Lane. The fire started on 2nd September 1666 in Thomas Farynor's baker's shop. The site's whereabouts is now marked by the Monument.



Where did most of the people run to escape the fire?

The Great Fire of London (Morrigan716)


Moorfields. The people fled mainly to Moorfields and Finsbury Fields. After the fire, many of them had to remain there, having been left homeless. King Charles II had biscuits sent to them from the Navy. Most of them remained uneaten because even though the refugees were hungy, they couldn't stomach the hard Navy fare. Then Charles II ordered bread sent in from adjoining counties, to be distributed daily.



When did the Great Fire start?

The Great Fire of London (Morrigan716)


September 2, 1666. The fire began at approximately 1:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. It burned out of control for five days and destroyed an area of one and a half miles by a half mile. It destroyed 373 acres inside the city walls and 63 acres outside. Flames swept through more than 400 streets and lanes. In all, 13,200 houses, 87 churches, and 52 Company halls were destroyed.



What is believed to have been an important, unintended benefit of the fire?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


It killed off the rats that carried the bubonic plague. It is thought that the fire actually saved lives because of this, as there was only six deaths at most from the Great Fire. (Records differ). However, after the fire the deaths from the plague fell sharply.



What famous landmark was destroyed by the fire?

The Great Fire of London (Morrigan716)


St. Paul's Cathedral. Before the flames reached St. Paul's, people had been hiding their property in the basement, thinking that even if the cathedral burned, the items would be safe in the basement. Christopher Wren is famous for redesigning St. Paul's afterward. The cathedral has survived ever since, even during World War II. Also lost in the fire were Baynard's Castle, Royal Exchange, and The Temple, the district for London's lawyers.



What contributed to the rapid spreading of The Great Fire?

The Great Fire of London (Morrigan716)


All of these (Strong winds from the East, Tar and pitch from the wooden houses fed the fire, Thames water system had been damaged by the fire). Other contributing factors were that streets were narrow and the houses very close together. There was also the lack of a trained fire brigade. After the fire, laws were passed to keep such damage from ever occurring again. No houses were rebuilt along London Bridge, and the streets were built wider and only out of stone or brick.



Samuel Pepys wrote perhaps the most famous account of the Great Fire. On which London street did he and his family live?

The Great Fire of London (Morrigan716)


Seething Lane. Samuel Pepys served on the Navy Board as Clerk of the Acts, and was one of the first to notify King Charles II of the fire. The fire did not burn his home but did destroy Barking Church at the foot of Seething Lane. Pepys wrote of the fire: "Over the Thames with one's face in the wind you were almost burned with a shower of firedrops." It is said that he buried wine and parmesan cheese to keep them safe.



On what street did the Great Fire start?

The Great Fire of London (Morrigan716)


Pudding Lane. The fire started in the home of Thomas Farynor, the King's Baker. At 10:00 p.m., he had drawn his ovens and went to bed. Four hours later he was awakened by a servant screaming, "Fire!". He, his family, and the servant escaped through an attic window to the roof of the house next door.



On what date did the fire start?

The Great Fire of London (bullymom)


September 2, 1666. Ironically, Londoners were at first not alarmed when the fire started, as fires were so frequent an occurrence in the city of tightly-packed wooden buildings. After the fire ended, an area of one and a half miles by half a mile was reduced to ashes - 373 acres inside the city walls and 63 acres outside. Amazingly, only six deaths were reported, although the actual figure was probably higher.



How much of the city was destroyed?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


80%. This included 13,000 houses and 89 churches. The area to the north-east of the modern Bank of England was largely spared.



How many people were involved with the re-designing of the City of London?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


6. There were 6 commissioners appointed. They were: Christopher Wren (he was not knighted till after the city was rebuilt), Robert Hook, Hugh May, Robert Pratt, Edward Jerman and Peter Mills.



How many people are believed to have died as a result of The Great Fire?

The Great Fire of London (Morrigan716)


6. Only six people are confirmed to have died due to the fire, most of them due to smoke inhalation both during the Great Fire and in the smouldering fires of the aftermath. It is believed that there were probably many more deaths, but there were only six confirmed.



How many churches did Christopher Wren design for the rebuilt city?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


51. Christopher Wren designed an amazing 51 churches for the new city including of course the new St Paul's Cathedral (my personal favourite place in London). Unfortunately, after the blitz in World War II only 24 of these were left standing.



How long did the fire last?

The Great Fire of London (bullymom)


4 days. After the fire was over, fully 80 percent of the city was destroyed, including over 13,000 houses, 89 churches and 52 guild halls. 100,000 people, or a sixth of London, was left homeless.



How do we know so much about the fire?

Great Fire of London (booboo11)


Because of Samuel Pepys' diary. Samuel Pepys lived on the other side of the Thames and documented what he saw.



How did the fire start?

The Great Fire of London (bullymom)


embers from a baker's oven. In one of the biggest "Oops!" moments of history, Thomas Farynor, baker to King Charles II in Pudding Lane, forgot to extinguish the fire in his oven on the night of September 1. Embers from the oven hopped over to the stack of firewood that was nearby, and by 1:00 am, the house and shop were aflame. Farynor's assistant awoke to find the house filled with smoke and raised the alarm. Farynor, his family, and one servant servant escaped via an upstairs window and climbed to safety along the roof tops. Unfortunately, the maid was too frightened to climb out of the window and stayed in the burning house, sealing her fate. Today the site of Farynor's house is marked by a 202-foot monument designed by Christopher Wren.



How did the fire finally come to an end?

The Great Fire of London (bullymom)


it burned itself out. Most fires, if left alone, will eventually burn themselves out; however, this is not usually a feasible option. In the case of the London fire, it stopped when it reached the stone walls surrounding the city, and, with nothing left to feed off of, died out.

• What caused London's Great Fire, and when was it? ( goto )



• In which street did the Great Fire of London begin? ( goto )



• How many people died in the Great Fire of London? ( goto )



• Whose diary was stolen and searched for a description of the Great Fire of London? ( goto )



• A fire in which English town in the 18th century killed more people than the Great Fire of London? ( goto )



• Who caused the Great Chicago Fire? ( goto )



• What was the other great disaster going on at nearly the same time as the Great Chicago Fire? ( goto )



• Can anyone think of a connection between London, burning or fire and bread or baking? ( goto )



• How did a glass and steel structure like the Crystal Palace in London catch fire so readily? ( goto )



• Legend has us to believe that Mrs. O'Leary's cow started the great fire of Chicago. Could it have been something else that started that fire? ( goto )



• He was famous for pumping stuff out of London and his great-great-grandson has been jokingly said to be responsible for pumping the same stuff into people's living rooms. Who are the two people and what are they famous for? ( goto )



• This company formed printing tickets and timetables for Chicago railway companies. The owner saved the company during the great fire by burying printing presses in sand. The company is now the biggest name in its field. What is it? ( goto )



• On what wrong assumption did Giorgio Vasari mistakenly gossip that the great Sandro Botticelli had been accused of heresy for the making of a painting now in the National Gallery in London? ( goto )



• Why is fire hot? ( goto )



• What is fire made of? ( goto )



• Fire is usually orange and yellow, but why is the fire on the stove purple? ( goto )



• In the film "St. Elmo's Fire" what was St. Elmo's fire? ( goto )



• Who invented the fire escape? ( goto )



• What's the worst fire in history? ( goto )



• What is St. Elmo's fire? ( goto )



• What is brimstone as in "fire and brimstone"? ( goto )



• Who's cow started the Chicago fire? ( goto )



• What US president was afraid of fire? ( goto )



• Who's cow started the Chicago fire? ( goto )



• Who wrote the song, 'Barney's on Fire'? ( goto )



• What does 'fire in the hole' mean ? ( goto )



• What is the so called "Ring of Fire"? ( goto )



• Is prostitution legal in London? ( goto )



• Who lived at No 1, London? ( goto )



• Have any rivers ever caught fire? ( goto )