13,200 homes were completely destroyed, along with the 500-year-old St Paul's Cathedral, 84 out of the 109 parish churches, and many commercial and administrative buildings, including the Royal Exchange, luxury shops and 44 livery company halls. [55] John Miller, Charles II (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991), 133-134. Reddaway, Thomas Fiddian. With many people now homeless and mobs roaming the streets, there was major potential for social unrest. [3] These proponents of a revival of the Commonwealth, which they referred to as the Good Old Cause, organized several plots against the King throughout the early 1660s. The causes of The Great Fire of London in 1666. ), How did the people of London try to stop the fire? Just 60-150mm tall, these tiny baby bottles provide a rare insight into the culinary world of Roman infants and toddlers. These are: Once a favourite haunt of Charles Dickens, this historic pub was built in 1663 and even features an old smuggling tunnel leading down to the River Thames! Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2007. [38] Adrian Tinniswood, By Permission of Heaven: The True Story of the Great Fire of London (New York: Riverhead Books, 2004), 81. The episode begins in the present at a barbecue where we meet a rat called Maureen. As many as 100,000 citizens were made homeless and 85% of the City had been destroyed. Although Charles II was wary of London and its traditional privileges, he was forced by political necessity to accept them. The government also had to enforce new building regulations instituted after the fire, such as wider streets and a ban on timber frames. Suffolk: Boydell Press, 2003. The Dutch, the French and anyone who appeared foreign were attacked in the streets or thrown into jail (sometimes for their own protection from the mob). By dawn on Thursday the fire was out. Robert Latham and William Matthews (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1970), July 12, 1667. This historic townhouse was shielded from the fire by the priory walls of nearby St Bartholomew's. What was the impact on London? Many of these controversies would remain unresolved until the Glorious Revolution brought his brother James IIs reign to an end two decades later. Pupils will learn about the causes of The Fire, meet key individuals involved and witness how Londoners responded to The Fire. BBC Teach > Secondary Resources > KS3 History / GCSE History, When the Great Fire of London broke out in 1666, it was so large the smoke could be seen in Oxford. What happened? St. Pauls Cathedral was surrounded by fire by 9 p.m. the roof and the walls had collapsed, setting fire to the belongings piled inside for safekeeping. Pepys, appalled at the extent of the fire, reports a scene of devastation and confusion as the blaze raged angrily out of control. . . Book Now. The baker, Thomas Farriner, woke to the smell of smoke - a fire . Consolidate pupils' learning about The Great Fire of London with these three catchy songs from our Music pages. 5. The Diary of Samuel Pepys: A New and Complete Transcription. A fast tempo song as The Great Fire rages through London. As a side note, if you're visiting the area be sure to look out for the old Roman amphitheatre which is on display in the Guildhall's basement. View the main characters in The Great Fire of London. It occurred at a critical moment in English history, only six years after the restoration of the monarchy ended decades of civil war and political turmoil. [31] Adrian Tinniswood, By Permission of Heaven: The True Story of the Great Fire of London (New York: Riverhead Books, 2004), 16. [55] Public animosity was so great that, in the following months, Parliament voted to impeach Clarendon and to banish him from England in perpetuity.[56]. a New and Complete Transcription, ed. Several proposals were put forward to re-design the citys layout. The long hot summer and the strong wind allowed the fire to spread rapidly. New York: St. Martins Press, 1991. Hosted on Acast. The legacy of the English Civil War, and the political tensions associated with it, weighed on Charles IIs mind as the fire died down. Great Britain, Public Records Office. The origins of the Great Fire of London. How much do you know about Docklands history? The 2 September 2016 marks 350 years since the start of the Great Fire of London, which changed the skyline of the capital city forever. It destroyed a large part of the City of London, including most of the civic buildings, old St. Paul's Cathedral, 87 parish churches, and about 13,000 houses. During the 1600s it was a tavern known as the Fountain Inn, and was visited by Samuel Pepys in 1661 of which he wrote "to the Fountain tavern and there stayed till 12 at night, drinking and singing". [57] On July 12, 1667, Samuel Pepys commented on these suggestions by saying, the design is to have a land-army, and so to make the government like that of France, but our princes have not brains, or at least care and forecast enough to do that.[58] As rumors of this plan spread, they aroused stern opposition and discontent from Parliament and the public. The Parliament, which met shortly after the fire, was thoroughly dissatisfied with government conduct and bemoaned the mismanagement of the war effort.[51] Charles II eventually convinced the MPs to grant him more money for the war but only after he promised to account for previous war expenditures. From the . The Great Fire of London raged for four days in 1666, destroying much of the city and leaving some 100,000 people homeless. [19] Unfortunately, Parliament underestimated how much funding the government would require. Pavements and new sewers were laid, and London's quaysides were improved. From the Tower of London to Holborn and the start of the Strand, almost nothing survived. Tasks Background Teachers' notes External links Connections to curriculum London was a busy city in 1666. The Great Fire of London burned day and night for almost four days in 1666 until only a tiny fraction of the City remained. [49] Adrian Tinniswood, By Permission of Heaven: The True Story of the Great Fire of London (New York: Riverhead Books, 2004), 266. Hampshire: Macmillan Press, 1996. - Slideshow - Teacher's Notes (pdf). This paper examines how the Great Fire of London affected, and was affected by, the many political and social issues that existed in England at the time. Seaward, Paul. The clue to why St Giles-without-Cripplegate survived the Great Fire is hidden within its name; 'without' means 'outside' of the old city walls! Citizens didn't want to surrender their plots of land to his vision and refugees from the fire, camping out at Moorfields, were facing starvation. The streets were narrow and dusty. A seventeenth-century painting showing the Great Fire of London (anonymous) Londoners weren't having much luck in the 1660s. The Great Fire of London Date updated: 18/05/2022 How can we know what happened back in 1666? Leaders at the time were absolutely useless (more on that later) which meant that the citizens of London were basically left to fend for themselves. He woke a few hours later to reports that the fire had consumed hundreds of houses. We asked three Londoners of Indo-Caribbean descent about their family stories as part of the Windrush generation. By explaining how the fire made many of these problems intractable, I argue that the Great Fire of London severely impaired Charles IIs ability to govern. This tax kept the government solvent for the moment. [68] This failure exemplified both the depth of religious tension in England and the governments inability to find a settlement that would satisfy either side of the religious divide. Robert Latham and William Matthews (London: G. Bell and Sons, 1970), October 19, 1662. Their association with dissent was also a liability, however, and many nonconforming ministers took the lead in blaming Catholics for the fire in part to deflect suspicion from themselves. Tapsell, Grant. When this funding gap was brought to the attention of later Parliaments, they refused to grant the King any permanent tax increases, in part because, as Miller writes, they would not surrender the bargaining power given them by the kings financial weakness.[20] The struggle to finance his government further complicated the tense relationship between Charles II and his capital, because London merchants were a key source of loans for the King. Although Charles IIs return to the throne was celebrated jubilantly by the English people, their enthusiasm began to fade as realities of Restoration government became apparent. The new regulations were designed to prevent such a disaster happening again. The fire managed not only to spread where the wind blew it, but even in the opposite direction and threatened to bear down on huge gunpowder stores by the Tower of London. While awaiting the Restoration, Charles II issued the Declaration of Breda, which among other things promised religious freedom to his future subjects on the condition that they remain loyal. Why do we call the Great Fire of London in 1666 great? On Thursday, September 6, the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire, who had been ordered to muster the local militia in case they were needed in London, received a report that said, the raging fire is now abated.[39] By then, however, London was a changed city. Although the inn has been through numerous renovations throughout its 400 year history, it is still full of character and charm. The largest surviving church in the City of London, St Helen's was also the local parish church of William Shakespeare during his time in the area. By the mid-1660s, Oliver Cromwells victory over the Dutch in the First Anglo-Dutch War was only a decade old. We use cookies to ensure you have the best browsing experience and to help us improve our website. St Paul's Cathedral was ruined, as was the Guildhall and 52 livery company halls. After the Dutch raid on the Medway, the state of the Kings finances was so desperate that some of Charles IIs councilors seriously advised him to raise an army and collect new taxes without Parliamentary approval. Watch the clip below to see what it would have looked like. The map below shows the area of London affected by the great fire. 10 miles - the extent of the area illuminated by the fire at night, as recounted by the diarist John Evelyn on 03 September 1666. He had started having houses pulled down or so he claimed but the fire was still spreading and no one was listening to him. As Parliament moved to permanently abolish some of the revenue sources abused by Charles I, such as the Court of Wards, it attempted to compensate for their loss by providing Charles II with new tax grants to fund his government. Great Fire of London. Penguin Books, 2018. It was the calamity of the age, but the smouldering hole at the heart of the city would prove to be a huge inspiration. Uglow, Jennifer S. A Gambling Man: Charles IIs Restoration Game. As a result, the fire not only devastated the City of London; it also proved detrimental to Charles IIs reign and increased instability throughout England. the great fire of london , 2 september to wednesday, 5 september 1666 - the great fire of london stock illustrations . How did they put it out? [26] In accordance with an existing defense treaty between France and the Dutch Republic, Louis XIV joined the war on the side of the Dutch, despite Charles IIs repeated attempts to convince him to remain neutral. (They used water 'squirters' and other basic tools, such as buckets of water.
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