Pupils could read extracts (or simplified versions) from the diaries of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn. Colsoni, F (1951). Le Guide de Londres (1693) (in French) (Reprinted.). London Topographical Society. Who Was Samuel Pepys? by Paul Harrison – simple biography of Pepy’s life, including a section about his recount of The Great Fire. is the size of the area within the Roman wall, according to standard reference works (see, for instance, Sheppard, 37), although Tinniswood gives that area as a square mile (667acres). Toby and The Great Fire of London by Margaret Nash – a simple story (under 400 words) with lots of great pictures.

Hanson, Neil (2001). The Dreadful Judgement: The True Story of the Great Fire of London. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-60134-4. Cooper, Michael (2013). Robert Hooke and the Rebuilding of London. The History Press. p.69. ISBN 978-0-7524-9485-2. The Great Plague epidemic of 1665 is believed to have killed a sixth of London's inhabitants, or 80,000 people, [156] and it is sometimes suggested that the fire saved lives in the long run by burning down so much unsanitary housing with their rats and their fleas which transmitted the plague, as plague epidemics did not recur in London after the fire. [157] During the Bombay plague epidemic two centuries later, this belief led to the burning of tenements as an antiplague measure. [158] The suggestion that the fire prevented further outbreaks is disputed; the Museum of London identifies this as a common myth about the fire. [159] [158] In those days when people wrote diaries, instead of using pens they dipped feather tips in ink and wrote with that instead. According to Jacob Field, "the reaction to the Fire revealed England's long-standing hostility to Catholics, which manifested itself most visibly at times of crisis". [120] Allegations that Catholics had started the fire were exploited as powerful political propaganda by opponents of pro-Catholic Charles II's court, mostly during the Popish Plot and the exclusion crisis later in his reign. [151] [120] The Royalist perspective of the fire as accidental was opposed by the Whig view questioning the loyalties of Catholics in general and the Duke of York in particular. [152]In addition to the physical changes to London, the Great Fire had a significant demographic, social, political, economic, and cultural impact. The fire "caused the largest dislocation of London's residential structure in its history until the Blitz". [142] Areas to the west of London received the highest number of new residents, but there was a general increase in the population density of the suburbs surrounding London. [143] Approximately 9,000 new houses were built in the area in which over 13,000 had been destroyed, and by 1674 thousands of these remained unoccupied. [144] Tenants who did remain in London saw a significant decrease in the costs of their lease. [145] Source 5 provides evidence of how Charles hoped to improve the city and prevent such a calamity happening again. SP 29/171 London was a busy city in 1666. It was very crowded. The streets were narrow and dusty. The houses were made of wood and very close together. Inside their homes, people used candles for light and cooked on open fires. A fire could easily get out of control. In those days there were no fire engines or firemen to stop a fire from spreading. Some of my readers may have an interest in being informed whether or not any portions of the Marshalsea Prison are yet standing. I myself did not know, until I was approaching the end of this story, when I went to look. I found the outer front courtyard, often mentioned here, metamorphosed into a butter shop. On 5 October, Marc Antonio Giustinian, Venetian Ambassador in France, reported to the Doge of Venice and the Senate, that Louis XIV announced that he would not "have any rejoicings about it, being such a deplorable accident involving injury to so many unhappy people". Louis had made an offer to his aunt, the British Queen Henrietta Maria, to send food and whatever goods might be of aid in alleviating the plight of Londoners, yet he made no secret that he regarded "the fire of London as a stroke of good fortune for him" as it reduced the risk of French ships crossing the English Channel being taken or sunk by the English fleet. [129] [130] Louis tried to take advantage but an attempt by a Franco-Dutch fleet to combine with a larger Dutch fleet ended in failure on 17 September at the Battle of Dungeness when they encountered a larger English fleet led by Thomas Allin. [131] Rebuilding John Evelyn's plan, never carried out, for rebuilding a radically different City of London Christopher Wren's rejected plan for the rebuilding of London

Tinniswood, 44: "He didn't have the experience, the leadership skills or the natural authority to take charge of the situation." Townsperson: I’ve heard that more than 300 houses have been burned by a fire, Sir, and it’s still going. Two people have left us eyewitness accounts of the fire. The first is Samuel Pepys, who worked for the Navy. He kept a diary from 1660-1669. The second is John Evelyn, who also kept a diary. Both men describe how dramatic and scary the fire was. All dates are given according to the Julian calendar. Note that, when recording British history, it is usual to use the dates recorded at the time of the event. Any dates between 1 January and 25 March have their year adjusted to start on 1 January according to the New Style.Sabur, Rozina (2 September 2016). "The Great Fire of London, 350th anniversary: How did it start and what happened?". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022.

Cultural responses to the Great Fire emerged in poetry, "one of the chief modes of media in seventeenth-century England", [166] as well as in religious sermons. [120] At least 23 poems were published in the year following the fire. [167] More recent cultural works featuring the Great Fire include the 1841 novel Old St. Paul's [168] (and the 1914 film adaptation), [169] the 2006 novel Forged in the Fire, [170] the 2014 television drama The Great Fire, [171] and the musical Bumblescratch, which was performed as part of the commemorations of the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire. [172] See also This article is about the 1666 fire of London. For other "Great Fires", see List of historic fires. For other notable fires in London, see Early fires of London and Second Great Fire of London.That could almost stand for a good phrase to describe the people in this novel. These are the London lost, the London lonely, the London mad - the city's victims, the city's prisoners. Not everyone at the time thought that the fire was an accident. Some said foreigners caused it. Others felt that the fire was started by those not free to follow their own religion. Some even saw the fire as a punishment from God.