Homework Help: The Great Fire of London

You know that you should never play with fire, don’t you? Years ago in 1666, a large part of London burned down because people weren’t careful with fire. A small fire in a baker’s oven turned into a large fire that burned most of the city. The fire burned for three days and turned the sky black. People ran to safety on the other side of the River Thames and eventually the fire was put out.

How the Great Fire Began

The Great Fire began in Pudding Lane Historic Pudding Lane near London Bridge. In 1666, London was very different to how it is today. Most homes were made of wood and straw, which made them catch fire easily. On top of that, people used candles for light and cooked food in wood-fire ovens.

On Sunday the 2nd of September 1666, a baker’s oven caught fire. The fire spread to the wooden house next door, and then the next. Soon the whole street was on fire. The fire grew and grew, spreading across London. It burned for three days and people fled their homes, leaving everything they owned.

Old Fire Engines

In 1666, when the Great Fire burned through London, fire engines were very different to the ones we have today. Instead of bright-red vans with flashing sirens and powerful hoses, the old 1666 fire engines were wooden carts full of water. In fact, the fire ‘engines’ of 1666 didn’t have motor engines at all. They were pulled around by horses and had a hand pump which had to be pushed up and down to spray out water.

The old fire engines were very large and often couldn’t fit through the narrow London streets. During the Great Fire, there weren’t enough fire engines to deal with the job. If there had been, fewer homes would have burned down.

The Monument to the Great Fire of London

Historic Spiral Staircase inside the Monument in London Have you heard of the London Monument? It’s a big, stone tower built in the centre of London a few years after the Great Fire.

Because so many buildings burned down in the fire, Londoners had to build their city all over again. Homes and churches were rebuilt, and slowly a new city grew from the ashes.

To celebrate the new city, it was decided that a monument should be made. As a result, a man called Sir Christopher Wren designed a tall tower to be built between Monument Street and Fish Hill Street.

What do you think they decided to call the tower? The Monument to the Great Fire of London in 1666 The Monument, of course!

The height of the Monument is the distance between Pudding Lane, where the fire started, and Monument Street. That means if Monument was pushed over, it would reach Pudding Lane.