Post-fire churches walk map

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys was born in Londn in 1663, and was the son of a tailor. 

Educated at St Paul's School and later at Magdalene College, Cambridge.

In 1665 he married Elizabeth St Michael the daughter of a Huguenot immigrant 

1660 - became Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board (ordered materials for the Navy) and lived in a house owned by the Navy in Seething Lane 

1669 - Elizabeth died

Held posts in the Admiralty and Royal Society

Spent 7 weeks in the Tower of London accused of spying for France

1679 - moved to Buckingham Street with his assistant Will Hewer.

1685 - became Master of Trinity House (nominated by the King)

1703 - Died in Clapham

Buried in St Olaves Church Hart Street (near Seething Lane)

His famous diaries were written between 1660 and 1669 about the time of the Plague and the Great Fire.

The diaries were written in shorthand, and were not intended to be read by his contemporaries.

Pepys had decided to keep his diary secret and record private messages and experiences as well as everyday events at home and work. He also liked to record his increasing wealth starting with mere £25 in 1660 and being worth some £10,000 a decade later when the Diary ends

At the time of Pepys death, the diaries were passed to Magdalene College and were not discovered when work began on John Evelyn's diary in 1818. 

1970 - the complete works of Pepys is published.

Example from the front page of his diary showing the shorthand used.

The two dates 1659 and 1660, refer to two calendars, the year was 1659 in the old (Julian) calendar, where the year began on 25 March, but 1660 in the new (Gregorian) calendar when the year began on 1 January.  

Pepys Street off Seething Lane.

Rebuilding the City after the Great Fire

After the Great Fire several designs were put forward for the redevelopment of London. Nearly 3,000 houses were built within three years. 

Men such as John Evelyn, Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke saw the opportunity to create a new modern City, but complex problems such as property ownership led to rebuilding using the original medieval layout. A tax on coal raised £736,000 for public works to be carried out.

A committee of 6 men, known as 'Commissioners for Rebuilding' including Christopher Wren, surveyed ruined properties, designed new buildings and made alterations to the streets. 

Narrow roads (as seen above) were widened to reduce the risk of fires spreading in the future. Over 100 streets were widened and two new wide streets - King Street and Queen Street were laid out. 

New buildings had walls of stone or brick instead of timber, and guidelines were issued for the height of houses, according to the type of street in which they were built.

High and principle streets - neither more or less than 4 storeys 

Streets and lanes of note - 3 storeys

By lanes - 2 storeys

Houses which lay back from the street, with courtyards and gardens - limited to 4 storeys

Post fire houses in Laurence Pountney Hill

The Monument to the Great Fire

The Monument to the Great Fire of London was jointly the work of Sir Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke. They drew up plans for a Doric column containing a cantilevered stone staircase of 311 steps leading to a viewing platform. 

On the top, a drum and copper urn from which flames emerged symbolised the fire.

It stands at 202 feet high and is situated at the junction of Monument Street and Fish Hill Street at the exact distance from the source of the fire in Pudding Lane (to the east of the Monument)

It was built between 1671 and 1667 to celebrate the rebuilding of the City. 

It's first use was by the Royal Society, for science experiments using the column as a zenith telescope. The urn at the top had a hinged lid and there were a number of trap doors in the column which could be opened. Lenses were placed at various heights. However, vibrations caused by traffic meant that they had to be discontinued. 

An inscription on the north panel gives details of the Great Fires damage to houses and buildings. 

Another of the decorative panels (south) 

A short distance away from the base of the Monument on the pavement, there is a memorial plaque to Robert Hooke. 

The monument survived WW II, with only some superficial damage to the base from bomb fragments. The first high explosive bombs to fall on London landed 202 feet to the west in King William Street. 

This unique pillar of Portland stone is the tallest isolated column in the world. 

The Great Fire 1666

In the 1600s most houses in London had timber frames, which were often high and crammed together with little space between. Road were quite narrow.

Open fires were used for heating and candles used for lighting, either beeswax, rush or tallow according to income. There were flammable materials everywhere; hay in houses and streets, pitch and tar by the river for ships and boats, and kindling wood laying about and the City was 'tinder dry' after the long hot summer of 1666.

The Great Fire started in Thomas Farriner's Bakehouse in Pudding Lane, and was probably caused by the ovens not being damped down after baking finished on the Saturday night. This led to a spark falling onto a pile of fuel and causing a fire to start in the early hours of Sunday 2 September. 

The area around Pudding Lane was full of warehouses and a strong easterly wind quickly blew the fire from house to house. 

Thomas Farriner and his family had to climb out of an upstairs window and onto a neighbours roof to escape. Many Londeners fled to the river to escape by boat, or rushed to the City gates to escape to fields outside London. 

The fire raged west along the waterfront, which was packed with combustibles and reached the area around the present site of Southwark Bridge in the afternoon. Gaining momentum on Monday, the Fire advanced west to the River Fleet and north beyond Cornhill, Ludgate and the Royal Exchange.

Fire breaks were established by pulling down houses with 'fire hooks' but the wind blew the fire across the gaps and the job was made more difficult because of wood laying in the way.

Fire posts were set up around the City, each staffed by 130 men. Fire fighters were not organised, and often had little more than buckets and large syringes to spread the water. 

On the third day, gunpowder was used to clear a firebreak in front of All Hallows by the Tower, to port the Tower of London with its gunpowder stores. 

In all, the fire destroyed almost four-fifths of the City; 13,200 houses, 90 churches, including St Paul's Cathedral  and 50 livery company halls. 

The wind began to drop on Wednesday 5 September, allowing fire fighters to control and douse the flames. By Friday it had stopped. Some places continued to smoulder for months.

Fewer than 10 people were recorded as dying in the Great Fire. An extract from the London Gazette in September 1666 records the events

A Frenchman, Robert Hubert, confessed to starting the fire and was hanged. Records later showed that he was not actually in London at the time, having arrived three days later! 

The total loss was estimated at around £10m, at a time when the City's annual income was £12,000

The Plague

The first ever recorded plague in London was in 664, with later outbreaks in 1348, 1603, 1625 and 1636.

It was a bubonic plague reported in Holland in 1664 that came to London. The plague was carried by fleas on rats from the continent who entered the City of London via docks, wharves and jetties. The first recorded case was Rebecca Andrews in April 1665, although poor peoples records were seldom kept, so it is likely that she was not the first. 

By Juky 1665, the plague was rife in the City, and the court of King James retreated to Oxford. Many other richer businessmen and professional people who could afford to do so also left and London's houses were boarded up. As the poor were legally prevented from leaving the City, the spread of infection was not halted.

Samuel Pepys was one of the notable people who remained in the City, and the witnessing of the plague is one of the themes of his diary.

Infection would take between 2 to 5 days, with various onset symptoms similar to flu. Most people died within 3 days of contracting the first signs; after rapidly degenerating with pain, breathing difficulty, coma and skin decay.

Unqualified 'plague doctors' would diagnose victims and bodies were buried in plague pits. All cats and dogs in the City were culled, although had they survived, they might have kept the rat population down.

Posies of petals were held under noses to mask the stink of decay and pepper, frankincense and other substances were burned in the belief that strong odours would clear the air. During the plague it was believed that the air was infected, and that it was a punishment from God. 

The plague reached its peak in September with 7,000 deaths per week. In total it is thought that around 100,000 people died, although this number does not include the poor, as their deaths were not officially recorded. 

Bills of Mortality were recorded and printed on sheets that were stuck up in public places to warn people. In September 1665 it shows that 7,165 people died from the plague. Infant mortality was also high, 'teeth' meaning infants who were still teething, and also 42 women died from bacterial infection after giving birth. Typhus (spotted fever) was also recorded: 101 people probably also died from this. 

Review : The Lord Mayor’s Show – November 8th 2014

The cloudy skies did not deter the crowds as the main part of  the Lord Mayor’s Show got underway with the new mayor Alan Yarrow was escorted by other dignitaries to the ornate State coach to begin his journey  to St Paul’s for a blessing and then to Royal Courts of Justice to swear the Oath of Allegiance to the Sovereign.

The Lord’ Mayor’s show is one of oldest civic pageants in the world. It began in 1215, when King John allowed the Mayor of London to become one of the first elected offices in the modern world.

It is the connection between the modern and the ancient that makes the show a strange mixture of pageant and spectacle with weird and wonderful costumes and vehicles. The 2014 procession will have over 7000 participants, with 21 bands, 150 horses, 23 carriages carts and coaches, and hundreds of other vehicles; vintage cars, steam buses, tanks, tractors, ambulances, fire engines, unicycles, steamrollers, giant robots, ships amongst others.

Towards the head of the procession you will see two wicker giants. They are Gog and Magog, the traditional guardians of the City of London, and they have been carried in the Lord Mayor’s Show since the reign of Henry V.

The  floats and displays were dominated  by  City’s businesses, Livery Companies, charities, Her Majesty’s Forces, the City Police and Londoners from all walks of life.

It is one of the more unusual parades in London and is always popular with the crowds that throng the streets surrounding the parade.

Each parade is 18 months in the planning stage and the Pageantmaster, Dominic Reid makes sure that everything runs like clockwork.

The Armed Forces are well represented with a wide range of regiments and bands.

There are what is known as the Great Twelve Livery Companies, however there are in total 11o Livery Companies in the City which represent a diverse range of trades, crafts and professions. Each year the Livery Companies donate around 40 million pounds to good causes and charities.

At St Paul’s, the new Lord Mayor and  his wife kneel down to receives a blessing before they carry on their journey to the Royal Courts of Justice.

The Lord’s Mayor show is one of the great pageants of London starting with the River Flotilla in the morning, the main parade  and then the firework display in the evening. The City of London plays a crucial part in the commercial functioning of London and although moving with the times, pays homage to its traditions. Much of their work is often hidden but events like the Lord Mayor’s show  illustrates the public face of the corporation.