General Chat

Dear All

Hello


The Great Fire of London started on Sunday, 2 September 1666 in a baker's shop belonging to Thomas Farynor.


Farynor’s bakery was in Pudding Lane. The fire spread quickly down Pudding Lane and carried on down Fish Hill and towards the Thames.


The fire continued to spread rapidly, helped by a strong wind from the east; when it reached the Thames it hit warehouses that were stocked with combustible products such as oil and tallow.

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The fire swept through the city, devastating many buildings including 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, The Royal Exchange, Guildhall and St. Paul’s Cathedral, built during the Middle Ages, was totally destroyed.


Although the verified death toll was only six people it is unknown how many people died in the great fire of London because many more died through indirect causes.

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Firefighting was very basic with little skill or knowledge involved. Leather buckets, axes and water squirts were used to fight the fire but had little effect.


Eventually, Samuel Pepys, a diarist of the period and Clerk to the Royal Navy, spoke to the to the Admiral of the Navy.


They agreed they should blow up houses in the path of the fire to create
a space to stop the fire spreading from house to house.


By the morning of Wednesday, 5 September 1666, the fire has been successfully stopped.

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The cost of the fire was estimated to be £10 million - at a time when London’s annual income was only £12,000; many people were financially ruined
and debtors' prisons became over-crowded.

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Sir Christopher Wren planned the new city and the rebuilding of London took over 30 years.


The site where the fire first started is now marked by a 202-foot monument, which was built between 1671 and 1677.


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Take gentle care
Best wishes
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

Elizabeth I was going to ask whether you saw the miniseries and if so what you thought of it, because I missed it and have thought of going looking for it

but then I read this

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3629782/board/nest/235753912?ref_=tt_bd_1

:-D :-D :-D


London has had its share of disasters ... when you are that old you can't avoid them!

When the then Lord Mayor was informed of the fire, he took one look and said "Pssht. A woman could piss it out"

Dear Bob and Jonnie

Hello

Haven't seen the mini-series on ITV but a few years ago, there was
a docu-drama on either Channel 4 or Channel 5. Very good and presented
the facts and information very well.


The reviews of the mini-series were not that good.

Thank you both for replying. <3


Take gentle care
With best wishes
Elizabeth, EOS
xx

And didn't it kill all the rats which started the Great plague of the year before? (If my school certificate history is remembered)

Nice posting Elizabeth.

http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Great-Plague/

One error I spotted on the above link was a claim that Bubonic Plague & Black Death were the same thing. There are/were three different strains of The Plague, including Bubonic Plague. Black Death is/was a combination of all three different strains of Plague.

It does seem that the Great Fire of London did help to limit the spread of The Plague.