The Great Fire of London
Begin your story in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane just before dawn on 2 September 1666. Follow the fire, or someone fleeing it, through four days that will remake a city.
The Great Fire of London began in a bakery on Pudding Lane and burned for several days, destroying much of the medieval City. Remarkably few deaths were recorded, though thousands were left homeless.
Field notes
Did you know
- The diarist Samuel Pepys buried his wine and a wheel of Parmesan to save them from the flames.
- The fire helped end a wave of plague by destroying rat-infested slums.
- Christopher Wren's rebuilt St Paul's Cathedral rose from the ruins.
Key phrases
ember · tinder-dry · the wind turned · conflagration · the sky the color of a forge
Chase this down
Look up: Samuel Pepys' diary of the fire; the Monument to the Great Fire.
Craft tip
Fire is a character. Give it appetite, direction, and mood, and the scene moves itself.
Try this
Retell it as a letter written weeks later, by someone still smelling smoke.