Some of my readers may have an interest in being informed whether or not any portions of the Marshalsea Prison are yet standing. I myself did not know, until I was approaching the end of this story, when I went to look. I found the outer front courtyard, often mentioned here, metamorphosed into a butter shop. The Great Fire Dogs by Megan Rix – follow the adventures of two dogs, Woofer and Tiger Lily, as they brave The Great Fire of 1666. Not everyone at the time thought that the fire was an accident. Some said foreigners caused it. Others felt that the fire was started by those not free to follow their own religion. Some even saw the fire as a punishment from God.

Radical rebuilding schemes poured in for the gutted City and were encouraged by Charles. [134] Apart from Wren and Evelyn, it is known that Robert Hooke, Valentine Knight, and Richard Newcourt proposed rebuilding plans. [135] All were based on a grid system, which became prevalent in the American urban landscape. If it had been rebuilt under some of these plans, London would have rivalled Paris in Baroque magnificence. According to archaeologist John Schofield, Wren's plan "would have probably encouraged the crystallisation of the social classes into separate areas", similar to Haussmann's renovation of Paris in the mid-1800s. [136] Wren's plan was particularly challenging to implement because of the need to redefine property titles. [137] The Great Plague epidemic of 1665 is believed to have killed a sixth of London's inhabitants, or 80,000 people, [156] and it is sometimes suggested that the fire saved lives in the long run by burning down so much unsanitary housing with their rats and their fleas which transmitted the plague, as plague epidemics did not recur in London after the fire. [157] During the Bombay plague epidemic two centuries later, this belief led to the burning of tenements as an antiplague measure. [158] The suggestion that the fire prevented further outbreaks is disputed; the Museum of London identifies this as a common myth about the fire. [159] [158] London was a busy city in 1666. It was very crowded. The streets were narrow and dusty. The houses were made of wood and very close together. Inside their homes, people used candles for light and cooked on open fires. A fire could easily get out of control. In those days there were no fire engines or firemen to stop a fire from spreading. A committee was established to investigate the cause of the Great Fire, chaired by Sir Robert Brooke. It received many submissions alleging a conspiracy of foreigners and Catholics to destroy London. [124] [125] The committee's report was presented to Parliament on 22 January 1667. Versions of the report that appeared in print concluded that Hubert was one of a number of Catholic plotters responsible for starting the fire. [125]

In addition to the physical changes to London, the Great Fire had a significant demographic, social, political, economic, and cultural impact. The fire "caused the largest dislocation of London's residential structure in its history until the Blitz". [142] Areas to the west of London received the highest number of new residents, but there was a general increase in the population density of the suburbs surrounding London. [143] Approximately 9,000 new houses were built in the area in which over 13,000 had been destroyed, and by 1674 thousands of these remained unoccupied. [144] Tenants who did remain in London saw a significant decrease in the costs of their lease. [145] Historic England. "The Golden Boy of Pye Corner(Grade II) (1286479)". National Heritage List for England. Topic Guides – Explore our topic guides and discover teaching ideas, resources, facts, videos and books that will help you to teach your children about a wide range of topics and themes. Compare Hanson, who claims that they had wheels (76), and Tinniswood, who states that they did not (50). Fires were common in the crowded wood-built city with its open fireplaces, candles, ovens, and stores of combustibles. A thousand watchmen or "bellmen" who patrolled the streets at night watched for fire as one of their duties. [31] Self-reliant community procedures were in place for dealing with fires, and they were usually effective. "Public-spirited citizens" would be alerted to a dangerous house fire by muffled peals on the church bells, and would congregate hastily to fight the fire. [32]

Cooper, Michael (2013). Robert Hooke and the Rebuilding of London. The History Press. p.69. ISBN 978-0-7524-9485-2.Sussman, Nathan; Coffman, D'Maris; Stephenson, Judy (19 November 2020). Financing the rebuilding of the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666 (Report). Centre for Economic Policy Research.