The Great Fire of London

It was an important inferno in the center of London. It began on September 2nd and ended on September 5th , 1666. It burned down St Paul’s cathedral, 13,200 houses, 87 churches, most of the buildings of the city authorities and many businesses. There were only six casualties, but between 70,000 and 80,000 Londoners lost their houses.

Painting

We think the fire started in a bakery in Pudding Lane, very early in the morning, maybe because of a candle, an oil lamp, or the baker’s ovens. The shop keeper was Thomas Farynor and he was King Charles II’s baker. In 1666, London was a very large medieval city (one of the major cities in Europe), and there were mainly timber houses, so they were a great fire hazard.

During four or five days, debris continued to smoulder. Numerous people left the city, but they blocked the firemen, and so the fire continued to spread. On Wednesday 5th, the fire stopped, and it didn’t reach The London Tower.

Today, a column named the “Pudding Lane” has been built to remind us of the terrible fire.

The Pudding Lane

Sephora and Nicolas