Gillian Clements - The Great Fire of London

www.franklinwatts.co.uk This ebook edition published in 2011 Franklin Watts 338 Euston Road London NW1 3BH Franklin Watts Australia Level 17/207 Kent Street Sydney NSW 2000 Copyright Gillian Clements 2001, 2012 The right of Gillian Clements to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted. Text first published as Great Events: The Great Fire of London in 2001 ISBN: 978 1 4451 1330 2 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Series editor: Sarah Peutrill Original series editor: Rachel Cooke Historical consultant: Claire Edwards Franklin Watts is a division of Hachette Childrens Books, an Hachette UK company. www.hachette.co.uk

In 1666 London was already a big city. Half a million people lived there, and it had grown out beyond the old city walls. The summer of 1666 was very dry.

Londoners were working as usual. But it was so hot, and the streets were filthy. Tall wooden houses made the narrow lanes airless and dark. There was almost no room for the carts to pass through. Oi, look what youre doing! cried a raker. The year before, one hundred thousand Londoners had died of the plague. Rich people like King Charles II and the Lord Mayor had left London. Rich people like King Charles II and the Lord Mayor had left London.

They wanted clean air, and felt safer out of the city.

Saturday 1st September was another hot, dry day. In Seething Lane by the Tower of London, sat Mr Samuel Pepys, Clerk to the Navy. Every day he wrote something in his diary about his work, or life in London. Today he wrote about the danger of the drought. Everything is tinder-dry.

The Thames is much too low. And theres a strong east wind too. Oh, dear. Pepys was worried. I must speak to an astrologer, he decided. Few people were about that night. Few people were about that night.

Robbers, known as footpads, hid in the shadows. Children holding lanterns led rich people home safely. At midnight in Pudding Lane, the baker Thomas Farynor checked his ovens. Then he went upstairs and fell fast asleep. Outside a warm east wind blew clouds of dust across the street.

Later the baker told his story.

I woke up choking. It was two oclock. My maid was coughing and there was smoke everywhere. Thats when I rushed outside I dont know where my maid is. An hour later his house was just smoke and ash. The flames spread.

First to the Star Inn, and then a gust of wind, and Whoosh! Sparks fell on the warehouses by the river. The pitch, oil and brandy inside the buildings made the flames worse. Thames Street was an inferno. At his home in Gracechurch Street, the Lord Mayor woke up. He raised his head from the pillow. Next morning, the east wind was still blowing fiercely. Next morning, the east wind was still blowing fiercely.

Three hundred houses had burned to the ground. A man shouted, Fish Street Hill is all on fire! Pepys heard the news from his maid. He hurried to the top of the Tower of London to see for himself. Everything will burn, even the churches! I must tell the King! On the way to the Palace at Westminster, Pepys met a lot of angry people. Some thought God had sent the fire. Pepys just blamed dry weather and a foolish baker. Pepys just blamed dry weather and a foolish baker.

Pepys found the King at last and told him the dreadful news. King Charles took command at once, and ordered, First pull down houses in the fires path. Then set up fire posts. My brother James will help. But even a King could not hold back a fire like this. Flames soared thirty metres into the city sky, and the Sun shone red like blood.

No one knew how to stop the flames. Theres not enough water in the Thames to put the fire out! The fires spread west and north. People stayed in their homes as long as they dared. At the very last moment they fled, in boats called wherries, or on foot. Lucky carters made a big profit. Pepys saw terrified pigeons die because they didnt want to leave their houses.

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