The Great Fire of 1666: What was lost and what survived?

This plaque marks the spot from where the fire began.

Everyone knows the story of the Great Fire of 1666, from where it began to where it was extinguished. Children even sing a nursery rhyme about it.

History records the devastation, loss of life and the rebuilding, but many notable historic places survived the devastation and because of this are often overlooked.

The Golden Boy of Pye Corner.

Brief History.

The fire started on Sunday September 2, 1666 and burned for four days.

The Great Fire of 1666, began at the shop of Thomas Farriner, in Pudding Lane, and was finally brought under control in the west, at Pie Corner (now the junction of Cock Lane and Giltspur Street), near Smithfield.

A small gilded statue of a boy, called the 'Golden Boy of Pye Corner', marks the spot where the fire reached.

Although the fire was said to be extinguished some isolated fires continued to break out.

The fire's advance was finally stopped for two main reasons: 

1. The strong easterly wind, which had driven the fire, finally subsided.
2. King Charles II had ordered the widespread use of gunpowder to blow up rows of houses, creating wide, empty gaps that the flames could not jump. These firebreaks, combined with the wind dying down, proved the ultimate stopping factor at places like Pie Corner.

How many people died?

The official number of people recorded to have died in the Great Fire of 1666 is only six to eight named people. However, the actual death toll is believed to have been much higher, potentially in the hundreds or even thousands. 

The Bills of Mortality at the time largely failed to account for the deaths of the poor, middle-class citizens, or the homeless, as a substantial portion of the population was displaced and not properly documented.

It is important to remember that the fire was a firestorm, with temperatures reaching 1,700°C, which is enough to completely cremate bodies, leaving no recognisable remains to be counted.

Plus, the official count only includes direct deaths from the fire itself. Many more people likely died in the cold winter months that followed due to disease, exposure and starvation in the makeshift camps set up outside the city walls.

The scale of destruction within the City of London.

What was lost?

Over 13,000 homes were either destroyed by the fire, or pulled down or blown up to create firebreaks.

Old St Paul's Cathedral was completely gutted and later demolished to make way for Sir Christopher Wren's masterpiece.

The Royal Exchange, on Threadneedle Street, was completely destroyed.

Some 87 medieval churches were lost in the Great Fire.

The City Gates.

Aldersgate: this gate was damaged by the fire and subsequently repaired. It had been rebuilt just 49 years earlier in 1617. 

Ludgate: the westernmost gate, it was consumed by fire as the blaze reached the area on September 4th.

Newgate: Located west of the original Roman fort, Newgate was also burned down. Like other gates, it was used as a prison, and had been rebuilt multiple times even before the Great Fire.

Aldgate: The fire came close to Aldgate, but the flames were stopped before they reached it.

Bishopsgate: This gate also escaped the fire, with firebreaks created at the upper end of Bishopsgate Street preventing the flames from reaching it.

Cripplegate: The church of St Giles without Cripplegate, which is near the gate's location, survived the Great Fire, suggesting the fire did not reach the gate itself. 

Moorgate: Reputedly Moorgate was damaged in the fire, though some sources suggest the fire never actually reached this far. It is believed that the reporting of the 'damage' was used to justify later improvements and rebuilding.

This far and no further.

Temple Church.

The Great Fire of London in 1666 reached the area of the Temple, severely damaging many of the surrounding legal buildings but sparing Temple Church itself from complete destruction.

The fire pushed west along Fleet Street and reached the precinct of the Inns of Court, including the Inner and Middle Temple, on Tuesday, September 4th, 1666. 

A large proportion of the Inner Temple was destroyed by the flames, while the Middle Temple was largely saved, escaping the fire with only the loss of Lamb Building.

The medieval Temple Church escaped major damage in the Great Fire. This was a very narrow escape, and it may have been due to the dedicated efforts of firefighters, including the Duke of York's men, who used a fire engine and created firebreaks in the area.

41 Cloth Fair is a unique survivor of the Great Fire.

What survived?

229-230 Strand, built in 1625, is the only Strand building to survive the Great Fire.

41 Cloth Fair is a historic, timber-framed house that is believed to be the only residential house within the City limits to have completely survived the fire. It was likely protected by the stone walls of the nearby St Bartholomew's Priory.

All Hallows-by-the-Tower was saved by Admiral William Penn (father of the founder of Pennsylvania), who ordered sailors from a nearby naval yard to pull down surrounding houses to create a firebreak.

The Gatehouse that leads to the Priory Church of St Bartholomew-the-Great.

St Bartholomew-the-Great gatehouse, which dates to 1595, is a remarkable survivor, much like the church of St Bartholomew-the-Great itself.

St Giles-without-Cripplegate and St Helen's Bishopsgate were two of several medieval Churches, situated along the fire's periphery or protected by specific factors, that survived.

Staple Inn, an Inn of Chancery on Holborn, was only metres from the final limit of the fire and survived.

The Guildhall survived, while the main hall's medieval timber roof was destroyed. The Guildhall's stone undercroft and strong stone walls survived the inferno, allowing the building to be restored relatively quickly, preserving the heart of the City's civic government.

The Tower of London was protected by its massive stone walls and a strategic firebreak. The garrison used gunpowder to demolish houses surrounding the Tower, effectively starving the fire of fuel and halting its eastward spread.

Visitors to the Monument peering down to where it all began.

Today.

Obviously the Monument to the Great Fire of 1666, with its 311 steps, is a great way to view the City and its reconstruction. Then there are the various plaques, markers and buildings that either survived, or like 'The Old Wine Shades', claim to have survived the fire.