The whole calamity seemed to have been planned, as a violent east wind encouraged the flames, which raged during the whole of Monday and part of Tuesday. The fire leapt to the hay and feed piles on the yard of the Star Inn at Fish Street Hill, and spread to the Inn. The strong wind that blew that night sent sparks that next ignited the Church of St. Margaret, and then spread to Thames Street, with its riverside warehouses and wharves filled with food for the flames: hemp, oil, tallow, hay, timber, coal and spirits along with other combustibles. I always wanted that shop gotten rid of anyway. The citizen fire fighting brigades had little success in containing the fire with their buckets of water from the river. By eight o'clock in the morning, the fire had spread halfway across London Bridge. The only thing that stopped the fire from spreading to Southwark, on the other side of the river, was the gap that had been caused by the fire of 1633. And as I gazed out into the distance, I could see The River swarmed with vessels filled with persons carrying away as many of their goods as they were able to save. Some fled to the hills of Hampstead and Highgate, but Moor fields was the chief refuge of the houseless Londoners.
The standard procedure to stop a fire from spreading had always been to destroy the houses on the path of the flames, creating “fire-breaks”, to deprive a fire from fuel. Lord Mayor Bludworth, however, was hesitant, worrying about the cost of rebuilding. That old chap. Never listens to what others have to say! The Trained Bands of London were called in to demolish houses by gunpowder, but often the rubble was too much to be cleared before the fire was at hand, and only eased the fire's way onward. The fire blazed unchecked for another three days, until it halted near Temple Church. Then, it suddenly sprang to life again, continuing towards Westminster.
Although the loss of life was minimal (some people say only sixteen perished), the magnitude of the property loss was staggering. Alas, Some 430 acres, as much as 80% of my city proper was destroyed, including 13,000 houses, 89 churches, and 52 Guild Halls. I am told that Thousands of citizens found themselves homeless and financially ruined.
Some say the fire just died by its self, other claim my nephew the Duke of York was the one that had the presence of mind to order the Paper House demolished to create a fire break, and the fire finally died down. Which source of true I know not, but suspect it is the latter. But don’t tell anyone! James mustn’t get any praise for anything. … Wait I forgot! You’re only a piece of parchment and ink!
Aye, a good substance came out of this catastrophe; one positive effect of the Great Fire of London was that the plague, which had ravished London since 1665, diminished greatly, due to the mass death of the plague-carrying rats in the blaze. The only good thing that Of course afterwards, I appointed six Commissioners to redesign the city. The plan provided for wider streets and buildings of brick, rather than timber. I am hoping that by 1671, 9000 houses and public buildings should be completed. The ever reliable was commissioned to design and oversee the construction of nearly 50 churches, not least of them a new St. Paul's Cathedral, construction of which will begin in 1675. I The King also had Wren design a monument to the Great Fire, which stands at the site of the bakery which started it all.
