“River full of boats taking in goods, and good goods swimming in the water and only, I observed that hardly one lighter or boat in three that had goods of a house in, but there was a pair of virginalls in it” He mentions how one in every three boats had viriginals (a keyboard musical instrument) in them, giving an insight into the leisure activities of the more affluent: His diary emphasises the terror of the London citizens as they fled the fire, describing the type of material possessions they carried away in carts and boats upon the Thames. “The churches, houses and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames made” Pepys describes in detail how the fire consumed London, a year after it was ravaged by the plague: Samuel Pepys was responsible for the administration of the navy for the English government, and was 33 when the fire occurred.
Samuel Pepys describes the scene in his Diary, which remains one of the most comprehensive eyewitness accounts of the fire. Within a few hours, the wind had spread the blaze to the River Thames, engulfing parts of London Bridge in flames. There were even rumours that the fire was started by French and Dutch attackers, the countries with which England was at war.
Many thought the fire was a punishment from God for the sins of Londoners, some thought the fire was a Catholic plot to destroy Protestant London. In 1651, ten years before the fire started, William Lilly predicted the Great Fire of London in his book, Monarchy or no Monarchy in England. There were many theories surrounding the start of the fire. With the overcrowded streets and a lack of rain for several weeks, the fire spread rapidly. The fire started in Pudding Lane, at the bakery of Thomas Farriner, King Charles II’s baker. But how did the fire start, and what do literary works have to say about this disaster? Over 100,000 people lost their homes and 436 acres of city were destroyed before the fire was extinguished on the 6th September 1666. 350 years ago on the 2nd September 1666, the Great Fire of London began, causing significant destruction throughout the city.
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