Fires in the cities of 17th Century Britain were far from uncommon, but none previously in London had lasted so long, caused so much damage and affected so many people. Many of the houses built in London, especially in the poorer parts, were made from wood, along with many of their contents. This, with the use of candles, meant the risk of fires were great.

At 2am on Sunday 2nd of September 1666, a fire broke out in a Bakery in Pudding Lane. Although alarming to the nearby streets, this fire would not have aroused many from their beds across the city. For those in the close surroundings of the bakery they packed their belongings and moved them just a couple of streets away, such was the expectation of the devastation that would be caused by the fire. However, by midday on this first day it was clear this was a fire the like of which London had never seen before. People realised that burrowing their belongings was the best way to ensure their survival and began to do so. The fire spread to the river destroying much of the merchant buildings located in the dockyards, while further destruction was caused by blowing up the outer suburbs to stop the fire spreading. This method of clearing the path of the fire was not new and had been used before, but the scale of demolition for this fire was far greater than previously used. The fire continued to burn for four days, until the 6th of September, after which it petered out. The fire left London with more damage than any city had seen in many centuries.

With 13,000 homes destroyed and 90,000 people homeless, the immediate effect was horrific. The open spaces within London turned into refugee camps where food was handed out. However, before the reconstruction could begin the vast quantity of debris and ruins left needed to be cleared. It was at this point when the population of London came together; there were no major disputes, looting or rioting. The authorities worked tirelessly to ensure that everybody’s land was recorded and marked out. This meant nobody lost out and where roads were widened or a plot was reduced, the owners were fairly compensated. However, the disadvantage of this was that the rebuilding of the city, which took place over the next few years, could not alter the existing plan of the city. For instance, they could not rebuild the city as a grid, because  each person did not own an exact square bit of land which fitted next to their neighbour’s. This hindered the standard to which the city could be rebuilt and the only real modernisation in the structure was the widening of some roads.

As mentioned above, the merchant and dockyards of London were damaged. This had a major affect on businesses and merchants, who lost all their stock. The City of London also lost historic buildings, St Paul’s Cathedral was completely demolished as a result of the fire, but this lead way to the architectural marvel that we can still see today.

The major reconstruction which took place after the fire needed to be funded. This was mostly done through taxation on the middle class. However, a coal tax raised £50,000 which went towards public buildings. This was a huge sum and covered a lot of the public buildings, but not all.