Y8 History Week beginning: 11/5/20 The Great Fire of London Please spend ONE HOUR on each lesson this week. Lesson One: 1) Read through the information below provided about the Great Fire of London and answer the following questions in full sentences: a) What were most buildings in London made of in the 1660s? b) Why were there lots of sheds full of straw, hay and other easily flammable materials? c) What had the weather conditions been like in London during the summer of 1660? d) Where did the fire start? e) Why would the fire reaching the warehouses have made the fire worse? f) What did Samuel Pepys suggest be done to stop the fire from spreading further? g) What did Pepys bury in his garden? Why do you think he did that? h) What was Pepys wearing when he ran away to his friend’s house in Bethnall Green? i) What did the Navy use to create a fire break (a gap between the houses that the fire couldn’t jump across)? j) What damage did the fire cause to London? k) How did people respond to prevent another fire from starting again? 2) There were several reasons why the Fire spread so quickly. Read back through the text provided. For each of the categories below, make a list of as many different reasons for the fire’s spread as you can. Some things may go into several categories: a. The types of building b. The layout of London c. The weather 3) The fire ended up destroying about a quarter of all the buildings in London. However, it could have been worse- there were several things that caused the fire to stop spreading. How was the fire stopped, and why did that approach work? Write a paragraph that answers both of these questions. Use the PEEL paragraph structure to help you: a. Make a point- a reason why the fire stopped spreading b. Give historical evidence- use your knowledge to say what happened c. Write an explanation that says why the actions taken helped to stop the fire from spreading. d. Write a concluding sentence that links back to the point at the start of your paragraph, and that directly answers the question. 4) The Great Fire of London would have a big impact on the people of London. Make a list of all of the different CONSEQUENCES that you think the fire would have had. Use the following questions to help you. a. What would the fire do to people’s home lives? b. What would the fire do to people’s working lives? c. How might the fire have changed the behaviour of different people? d. How might the fire have made people think about their government? e. How might the fire have made people think about how to rebuild their city? The Great Fire of London (adapted from the website of the London Fire Brigade) In 1666, a devastating fire swept through London, destroying 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, The Royal Exchange, Guildhall and St. Paul’s Cathedral. So how did it happen? London in 1666 Back in the 1660s, people were not as aware of the dangers of fire as they are today. Buildings were made of timber – covered in a flammable substance called pitch, roofed with thatch – and tightly packed together with little regard for planning. About 350,000 people lived in London just before the Great Fire. It was one of the largest cities in Europe. Homes arched out over the street below, almost touching in places, and the city was buzzing with people. Lots of animals lived London too – there were no cars, buses or lorries back then – so as well as houses, the city was full of sheds and yards packed high with flammable hay and straw. Following a long, dry summer the city was suffering a drought. Water was scarce and the wooden houses had dried out, making them easier to burn. It was a recipe for disaster. The fire that changed our city forever... The Great Fire of London started on Sunday, 2 September 1666 in a baker's shop on Pudding Lane belonging to Thomas Farynor (Farriner). Although he claimed to have extinguished the fire, three hours later at 1am, his house was a blazing inferno. At first, few were concerned – fires were such a common occurrence at the time. However, the fire moved quickly down Pudding Lane and carried on down Fish Hill and towards the River Thames. It spread rapidly, helped by a strong wind from the east. When it reached the Thames it hit warehouses stocked with combustible products (things that easily catch fire), including oil and tallow (candle wax). Fortunately, the fire didn't spread south of the river – but only because a major blaze in 1633 had already destroyed a section of London Bridge. Samuel Pepys observed first hand... Samuel Pepys, a man who lived at the time, kept a diary that has been well preserved. He was a Clerk to the Royal Navy who observed the fire. He recommended to the King that buildings were pulled down – many thought it was the only way to stop the fire. The Mayor was ordered to use fire hooks to pull-down burning buildings but the fire continued to spread. People forced to evacuate their homes chose to bury or hide what valuables they couldn't carry. Pepys himself buried his expensive cheese and wine, and carted his other belongings off to Bethnal Green (another part of London). From the diary of Samuel Pepys, Monday 3 September 1666: “About four o’clock in the morning, my Lady Batten sent me a cart to carry away all my money, and plate, and best things, to Sir W. Rider’s at Bednall-greene. Which I did riding myself in my night-gowne in the cart; and, Lord! to see how the streets and the highways are crowded with people running and riding, and getting of carts at any rate to fetch away things.” So how did they put out the Great Fire of London? Pepys spoke to the Admiral of the Navy and agreed they should blow up houses in the path of the fire. The hope was that by doing this they would create a space to stop the fire spreading from house to house. The Navy – which had been using gunpowder at the time – carried out the request and the fire was mostly under control by Wednesday, 5 September 1666. However small fires continued to break out and the ground remained too hot to walk on for several days afterwards. Pepys recorded in his diary that even the King, Charles II, was seen helping to put out the fire. From the diary of Samuel Pepys, Wednesday 5 September 1666: “ Lord! what sad sight it was by moone- light to see, the whole City almost on fire, that you might see it plain at Woolwich, as if you were by it.” What happened after the fire? London had to be almost totally reconstructed. Temporary buildings were erected that were ill-equipped, disease spread easily, and many people died from this and the harsh winter that followed the fire. As well as loss of life, the financial costs were staggering. 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, The Royal Exchange, Guildhall and St. Paul’s Cathedral – built during the Middle Ages – was totally destroyed. The costs were estimated at £10 million. To put this into perspective, the annual income in London is estimated to have only been about £12,000 a year at this time! However, it is believed that only nine or ten people died as a result of the fire, which is impressive given the scale of destruction that London faced. Approximately 80% of London’s buildings were destroyed. Shortly after, clever businessmen spotted an opportunity to provide insurance to those worried about another fire. These insurers, though, reduced their risk of having to pay lots of money to their customers if another fire did happen by employing men to extinguish fires for them. These were the first fire brigades formed in England. Y8 History Week beginning: 11/5/20 What does the Great Fire reveal about the Stuart era? Please spend ONE HOUR on each lesson this week. Lesson Two: 1) Read back through the information from last lesson and the answers that you wrote. Do you think that anyone was responsible for the fire? If so, who, and why? If not, why not? 2) We are going to use historical details and sources to try and learn about the reaction to the fire, and what it tells us about society in seventeenth century England. 3) Look at the table (below) For each of the details about the events following the fire, complete the table by identifying the following: a. What you can learn from it (ie, describe the source) b. What you can infer from that about Stuart society (ie, make an educated guess as to what can we learn from it, even if it doesn’t say it outright)? 4) Write an explanation in response to the following questions: a. The people involved in the trial of Hubert believed him to be insane, and did not think that he started the fire. However, they still convicted him and sentenced him to death. What does that suggest about the attitudes of the people of London following the fire? b. What does the trial of Robert Hubert suggest about Stuart attitudes to religion? 5) Read through the description of the Great Fire of London’s long-term consequences (Source A, below).