---
node: great_fire_of_london
type: event
slug: great_fire_of_london
title: "Great Fire of London"
lead: "The Great Fire of London burned from 2 to 6 September 1666, destroying most of the medieval City — about 13,200 houses and 87 churches, including Old St Paul's. Rebuilding gave London a brick-built City and Wren's new cathedral."
published: 2026-07-11
updated: 2026-07-11
image_file: great_fire_of_london.jpg
image_source: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Great_Fire_London.jpg"
image_author: "Unknown"
image_license: "Public domain"
---

## What happened

The fire broke out in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane in the early hours of 2 September. Driven by strong east winds through tightly packed timber houses, it jumped firebreaks for four days until the wind dropped and gunpowder demolitions halted it.

## Background

London had just endured the great plague of 1665, and its old City was a maze of timber and thatch long recognized as a fire risk. Verified deaths were few — traditionally put in single figures, though historians suspect the true toll among the poor was higher — but some 70,000 to 80,000 of the City's inhabitants were left homeless.

## Consequences

Rebuilding acts required brick and wider streets; Christopher Wren rebuilt St Paul's and dozens of parish churches, and the Monument commemorates the fire. A false rumor blaming Catholic arson long persisted — a Frenchman, Robert Hubert, was hanged on a confession now regarded as false.