Prior to the Great Fire of 1666, London was at significant risk for disaster. The residents were victims of the Bubonic Plague a year earlier. The city’s layout was typical of the Middle Ages. London had narrow streets and overcrowded timber framed buildings. Businesses and homes were often located in the same flammable structures. Below is a map of London that was published 54 years before the Great Fire of 1666.
The following is a summary of the Great Fire and the proposed plans for London’s urban renewal that followed.
The Great Fire of London began just after midnight on Sunday, September 2, 1666, on Pudding Lane. The fire originated in a building owned by a well-known baker named Thomas Farriner.
Thomas Bloodworth, the Lord Mayor of London, arrived at the fire’s location and stated that it could easily be extinguished. Bloodworth was wrong, the fire spread and by 7:00 am it had destroyed approximately 300 homes.
Due to strong winds, the fire continued to spread for four days. Panicked Londoners escaped by boat on the River Thames. Some carried valuables on carts and fled to fields beyond the city walls, many climbed onto rooftops. The narrow streets resulted in blocked traffic. The fire was an accident that started in Thomas Farriner’s bakery; however, the Second Anglo-Dutch War was in progress, and innocent French and Dutch immigrants were wrongfully identified as suspects. Some of the immigrants were attacked by angry mobs.
The fire was finally extinguished on Wednesday, September 5th. Approximately 13,000 houses and 87 churches were destroyed including St. Paul’s Cathedral. The number of fatalities is unknown.
King Charles II organized a reconstruction of the city. The King recognized that wooden jettied buildings contributed to the fire’s spread. The Parliament of England passed the Rebuilding Act of London in February 1667. The act stated that all new buildings should be constructed from stone or brick and that the streets should be widened. Charles II appointed the architect Christopher Wren to develop a new city plan. Wren developed an elaborate plan based on a grid system. The plan was rejected because property owners would not be able to retain their land as it existed before the fire. Although Christopher Wren’s plan was not implemented, the ideas that he proposed, such as wide streets and large public squares, inspired city planners well into the 19th and 20th centuries. Wren was also commissioned to redesign churches that were destroyed by the fire. His design of St. Paul’s Cathedral was used; today the building is considered a remarkable example of architectural achievement.
In 1749 the architect and author, John Gwynn, redrew Wren’s plan and added accompanying text. Featured below is a facsimile of the redrawn plan.
John Evelyn, the diarist, gave a thorough account of the Great Fire. He also produced a new city plan based on a grid system. His plan was rejected for the same reason as Christopher Wren’s; landowners would not be able to retain their land. The map below was engraved in 1748 for the London Antiquarian Society. The plan developed by John Evelyn is shown on top with an image of Christopher Wren’s plan below it.
John Leake, a surveyor, was appointed by the Lord Mayor to evaluate the extent of fire damage. Leake’s six survey sheets were combined into a single map by the artist Wenceslaus Hollar. An image of Leake’s survey is shown below.
Next is a facsimile of a detailed map of London as it was being rebuilt. The map was produced in 1677 by the cartographer John Ogilby and his step-grandson William Morgan. Ogilby was a former dance instructor from Ireland. He moved to London where he became a book publisher. His printing press and home were destroyed in the Great Fire. He eventually became a cartographer and published multi-volume atlases as well as road maps. During the 1670s he was appointed Cosmographer to King Charles II.
Below is another map produced by John Ogilby and William Morgan, following the earlier example from 1677. This map was originally published in 1682.
Grid-based plans for London were proposed by more individuals besides Christopher Wren and John Evelyn. Robert Hooke, Valentine Knight, and Richard Newcourt each proposed plans based on grid designs. None of the plans were implemented. Although the fundamental layout of the medieval streets remained the same after the fire, significant improvements were made by widening the streets and using brick and stone for building construction. For more information about the plans that were never used, see the sources below.
Learn More:
- Order and Structure in Urban Design: The Plans for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire of 1666, Julienne Hanson, UCL Discovery.
- Great Fire: The grid system for London that never happened, Paul Kerley, BBC News Magazine.