Did you know there was a fire which burned for over four days and almost destroyed a city!?
It was also the inspiration (at least one of the inspiration!) for a very famous nursery rhyme!
It was way back in 1666!
Called the Great Fire of London, it was a catastrophic four-day blaze that swept through the central parts of the City of London from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September 1666.
It destroyed approximately 80% to 85% of the medieval City, including 13,200 houses and 87 parish churches, and left roughly 70,000 to 100,000 people homeless!
The fire began after midnight at Thomas Farriner’s bakery on Pudding Lane.
Lord Mayor Sir Thomas Bloodworth initially dismissed it, reportedly saying a “woman might piss it out”! The original words may have been much more crass! But I guess bureaucracy is legendary!
Then driven by strong east winds, the fire spread into the financial heart of the city, reaching Lombard Street and the Royal Exchange.
The most destructive day were the third and fourth days during which the fire jumped the River Fleet and reached St. Paul’s Cathedral, destroying it!
Finally on Day 4 & 5 the wind dropped and the firebreaks took effect. By Thursday, the main conflagration was extinguished, though some debris smoldered for months!
Thomas Farriner was the king’s baker whose shop was the origin point of the fire.
King Charles II was the one who personally directed firefighting efforts and helped man the pumps alongside his brother, James, Duke of York.
Officially, only six to nine deaths were recorded, but modern historians believe the true number was much higher, likely in the hundreds or thousands, as many victims’ remains were incinerated or went unrecorded.
Damages were estimated at £10 million at a time when the city’s annual income was only £12,000!
It also lead to Scapegoating when a French watchmaker named Robert Hubert was falsely convicted and executed for starting the fire, despite evidence that he was at sea when it began! Blaming the innocent ‘other’ is always the easy way out!
Finally London was rebuilt using brick and stone instead of timber to prevent future fires and New regulations also required wider streets!
Got the nursery Rhyme? A famous bridge got burnt and they were urged to Build it up with Brick and stone!?
Then again you can build legacy which cannot be burnt or destroyed!
Like that of Mamukkoya!
He will be missed!
Subh ratri…
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