Plague and fire 1666

By the 1660s, London was by far the largest city in Britain and the third largest in the Western world, estimated at 300,000 to 400,000 inhabitants. Between 1665 and 1666 it was devastated by two events. The Great Plague, during the outbreak 68,596 deaths were recorded. In London alone, at its peak in 1665, 7,000 people a week were dying. In 1666 there followed the Great Fire of London which swept through central London, gutting the Medieval City inside the old Roman City Walls, while also extending past the wall to the west. The fire started in a bakery and spread rapidly. The technique of the time in fighting fires was the creation of firebreaks by means of removing buildings in the fire’s path. This was critically delayed due to the indecisiveness of the Lord Mayor. Hear our Samuel Pepys re-enactor tell the story.