The Great Fire of London was a fire that was so big that it burned nearly all of the buildings in London, with the exception of the Tower of London as that was made from stone, and stone doesn’t burn up easily.

A painting shows how big the fire really was.

The fire started from a baker’s shop in September 1666. One of the reasons why the fire was so big was because the houses in London were made of wood which burns easily.

Thankfully, the fire was only able to spread inside the City of London because of London. So if you lived on the other side of the River Thames, you would be safe. Hooray!

The fire lasted for four days and Charles II (the king at the time) helped put out the fire. Well done, Charles!

What happened after the fire?

After the fire, a major project was started in order to rebuild London. Many people submitted their plans for rebuilding London, which you can see here. Some people wanted London to have large public spaces and wide streets whilst others wanted London to be easy to navigate, with the streets and buildings in a perfect grid.

Many of the famous buildings in London were built immediately after the fire, such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was the tallest building in London when it was finished in 1675.

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