You Wouldn’t Want to Be in the Great Fire of London! · The raging flames are a frightening sight, ... England was at war with the Dutch, ... end of the bridge all on fire,

Teachers’ Information Sheet by Nicky Milsted

The book follows the story of Samuel Pepys, a Clerk for the RoyalNavy for King Charles II of England. It is 1666, and Pepys lives inthe city of London; he keeps a personal diary. (Pepys’ diary was firstpublished in the 19th century and provides an unrivalled first-handaccount of 17th-century England.)

It is not a good time to live in England’s rapidly growing capital city:in 1665 a devastating plague killed around 100,000 people. Diseasespreads quickly in 17th-century cities like London because thehouses are packed very close together and levels of cleanliness andhygiene are appalling – in fact, the streets themselves are covered inpiles of human poo! In September 1666, following a long, hot anddry summer, a glowing ember from a fire in a bakery kindles the most famous Fire in history: the Great Fire of London. During the four frightening days and nights when the fire rages throughthe streets of London, 13,200 houses are burnt down and 80% of the City of London (the namegiven to the old centre of London) is destroyed. Key buildings that are lost to the inferno includethe Royal Exchange (which was opened in 1571 by Queen Elizabeth I) where important tradetakes place, the Custom House alongside the River Thames where merchants paid taxes on theirgoods brought into the capital, and St Paul’s Cathedral, along with 87 other churches.

Although official statistics report only five deaths during the Great Fire, more than 100,000 aremade homeless – many losing everything they own. The raging flames are a frightening sight,and Pepys himself describes it as if “the whole of heaven was on fire”. It is clear that YouWouldn’t Want to Be in the Great Fire of London!

About the Great Fire of London

The Great Fire of London started in the bakery of Tom Farynor on Pudding Lane. He missed aglowing ember in the fire when he cooled the ovens, and this spark started a small fire in the earlyhours of Sunday 2nd September. Initially, the fire was not remarkable, and didn’t appear to bespreading quickly. Indeed, Farynor and his family and staff were able to escape the fire throughan attic window, and his neighbour was able to save his possessions before the fire spread to hisproperty. It was when the roof of Farynor’s bakery collapsed that the fire began to spread withoutbeing checked. Sparks – fanned by a strong dry wind – set fire to the Star Inn across the yard. The wind carried sparks further, setting fire to the wooden houses nearby. As burning timberbeams from roofs fell across the narrow streets, the fire had a further route to spread. By dawn,warehouses along the River Thames were on fire, and the contents of these – including oil, hay,coal and hemp – all burnt easily and fiercely making it impossible to tackle the flames. By 8am,the flames had spread halfway across London Bridge; luckily a break in the houses on the bridge(caused by an earlier fire!) stopped the fire spreading to the other side of the river.

You Wouldn’t Want to Be in the Great Fire of London!

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd


BOOK HOUSE WWW.SALARIYA.COM

At its height, the Great Fire of London destroyed around 100 houses an hour. Early attempts at creating firebreaks – spaces to halt the spread of the flames – failed as the

houses that were being pulled down were already in the path of the fire, and many people refused to have their houses sacrificed to save others (even though they would be destroyed

by the fire anyway!). There was no fire brigade in 17th-century London, so people were trying tofight the flames themselves by using water from the river or by trying to beat the fires out.However, the strong wind and strength of the flames made this impossible.

The fire continued to burn fiercely for four days and four nights, finally beginning to die out onWednesday 5th September. The fire subsided for several reasons: the wind dropped, which meantthat sparks from the fire were not being spread so widely; effective firebreaks were created by ateam led by the Duke of York using gunpowder to blow up large numbers of buildings in one goto create substantial gaps more easily than physically pulling houses down; and the fire hadreached the stone walls of an ancient medieval church called the Temple, these walls did not burnas easily as the structures made of wood.

Once the flames were out, the rumours and conspiracy theories about the cause of the fire beganto spread. A watchmaker called Robert Huber was even hanged because he confessed to startingthe fire in Westminster – even though he didn’t! Foreigners were treated with suspicion; at thetime of the Fire, England was at war with the Dutch, and had recently been fighting both Franceand Spain too. Anyone with a foreign accent was at risk of being attacked.

During the winter of 1666, thousands of the people made homeless by the Great Fire were livingin temporary structures and tents in the fields around London. Others emigrated to America.Many wealthy merchants were bankrupt after their goods were destroyed, and a new prison hadto be built to house debtors.

Following the Fire, around 1.5 square kilometres of the city had been destroyed. There were newlaws passed on how houses needed to be constructed. Rebuilding was done in brick rather thanwood. However, the process of renewing the city after the devastation took 50 years.

Activity 1: About the Great Fire of London

The introduction above gives a good overview of some of the facts and figures about the GreatFire of London. There are comprehension challenges linked to some of these facts on the activitysheets.

Activity 2: Read all about it!

The Great Fire of London was a huge global news story – even in the 17th century – and detailsof the Fire were on the front page of newspapers across Europe, accompanied by graphicdrawings of the Fire. Challenge your pupils to create a newspaper front page featuring the story.

Begin by coming up with a good catchy headline. You want people to pick up your newspaperrather than a rival newspaper, so the headline is very important as it should catch the readers’attention and make them want to read more. ©

MM

XV

I The

Sal

ariy

a Bo

ok C

ompa

ny L

td



Example headlines for this story could include: London Burns!Wildfire Sweeps through London’s StreetsFurious Fire Consumes CapitalThousands Homeless after Devastating Destruction

Talking point: what makes a good headline? You could choose a range of examples from differentnewspapers to discuss. Think about alliteration and the use of puns on popular sayings. Are theredifferences between headlines in tabloid newspapers and broadsheets? Can your pupils think ofany reasons why?

Your pupils should carefully plan their article before writing it. What facts are important toinclude? Are there any quotes that could make the story more interesting? Look at hownewspaper articles are structured. Often the most important facts are in the first paragraph – the ‘what’, ‘why’, ‘when’, ‘where’ and ‘how’ of the story. Details and quotes tend to be includedlater in the story.

Talking point: what differences do your pupils think there would have been between acontemporary newspaper report and a report on the same story in today’s newspapers? Yourpupils could choose to produce either a 17th-century newspaper front page, or a 21st-centuryversion; how would they differ? Would the differences just be in the presentation of theinformation, or do your pupils think that the content of the articles would be different too?

Extension activity: news is now a 24-hour business with dedicated TV channels around the clock,and the internet responding to news stories as they happen. News is also spread and shared byordinary people using social media and blogs too, with updates appearing on a minute-by-minutebasis. How do your pupils think that the story would have been told using these 21st-centurymedia? Challenge your pupils to write a series of short blog posts – or even 140-character-longTweets – that tell the unfolding story as it happens.

Talking point: although this continuous stream of information and reporting may appear to bemore democratic and representative of events, can your pupils think of any shortcomings orproblems that might happen as a result?

Activity 3: Pepys’ diary extract

Samuel Pepys’ diary gives an amazing first-hand account of the Great Fire of London. In hisClerk’s role to the Navy and his resultant links to the royal family, Pepys was in a unique positionto report not just on the spread of the fire, but also on the means used to tackle it and thedecisions made by those in power.

Ask your pupils to imagine that they were living in London in September 1666 and to createthemselves a character. This could be a fictional character, or someone we know existed, such asthe baker Thomas Farynor. Challenge your pupils to write a diary extract (or series of diaryextracts to cover the period of the Great Fire) from the point of view of their character about whatthey have seen and heard during the blaze. ©

MM

XV

I The

Sal

ariy

a Bo

ok C

ompa

ny L

td



Extension activity: two extracts from Pepys’ diary from 2nd September 1666 are given below. Read these aloud to your pupils, and then provide them with a copy of the text

(it is reproduced on an activity sheet for you to share). Ask your pupils to describe the language that Pepys uses. What observations can they make about his choice of words (and

in some cases, spellings!), and the length of his sentences? Do your pupils find it easy or hard todecipher what Pepys is saying?

Challenge your pupils to either rewrite their diary extract about the Fire in a similar tone toPepys, or to create a new diary extract about their school day in his style.

Some of our mayds sitting up late last night to get things ready against our feast to-day, Janecalled us up about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City. So I roseand slipped on my nightgowne, and went to her window, and thought it to be on the backside ofMarke-lane at the farthest; but, being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it far enoughoff; and so went to bed again and to sleep. ... By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hearsthat above 300 houses have been burned down to-night by the fire we saw, and that it is nowburning down all Fish-street, by London Bridge. So I made myself ready presently, and walked tothe Tower, and there got up upon one of the high places … and there I did see the houses at thatend of the bridge all on fire, and an infinite great fire on this and the other side the end of thebridge …. So down, with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me thatit begun this morning in the King's baker’s’ house in Pudding-lane, and that it hath burned St.Magnus’s Church and most part of Fish-street already. So I down to the water-side, and there gota boat and through bridge, and there saw a lamentable fire. … Everybody endeavouring toremove their goods, and flinging into the river or bringing them into lighters that layoff; poorpeople staying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running intoboats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another. And among otherthings, the poor pigeons, I perceive, were loth to leave their houses, but hovered about thewindows and balconys till they were, some of them burned, their wings, and fell down. Havingstaid, and in an hour's time seen the fire: rage every way, and nobody, to my sight, endeavouringto quench it, but to remove their goods, and leave all to the fire, and having seen it get as far asthe Steele-yard, and the wind mighty high and driving it into the City; and every thing, after solong a drought, proving combustible, even the very stones of churches … I to White Hall … andthere up to the Kings closett in the Chappell, where people come about me, and did give them anaccount dismayed them all, and word was carried in to the King. So I was called for, and did tellthe King and Duke of Yorke what I saw, and that unless his Majesty did command houses to bepulled down nothing could stop the fire.

So near the fire as we could for smoke; and all over the Thames, with one's face in the wind, youwere almost burned with a shower of firedrops. This is very true; so as houses were burned bythese drops and flakes of fire, three or four, nay, five or six houses, one from another. When wecould endure no more upon the water; we to a little ale-house on the Bankside, over against the'Three Cranes, and there staid till it was dark almost, and saw the fire grow; and, as it grewdarker, appeared more and more, and in corners and upon steeples, and between churches andhouses, as far as we could see up the hill of the City, in a most horrid malicious bloody flame, notlike the fine flame of an ordinary fire.

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd



Activity 4: What would you save?

Samuel Pepys described in his diary how people were rushing around the burning city tryingto save what they could from their homes. He wrote about saving his own possessions:

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 mynight-gowne in the cart; and, Lord! to see how the streets and the highways are crowded withpeople running and riding, and getting of carts at any rate to fetch away things.

Challenge your pupils to think about five possessions of their own that they would try to save.They can write about their choices on the activity sheet.

Talking point: did your pupils opt to save sentimental and irreplaceable items, such as teddy bearsand photographs, or items with a perceived value, such as mobile phones and computers? Have adiscussion with your pupils about why they made the choices that they did. What do they value,and why? Have their ideas been changed by the discussion?

Why not try… conducting a survey amongst your pupils about the objects that they most value,and creating bar graphs and pie charts to display your results.

Activity 5: Conspiracy theories

Although we now know that the Fire was an accident, and know where it began and how itspread, this was not common knowledge in the immediate aftermath of the Fire. There were anumber of rumours and conspiracy theories about what caused it.

Most Londoners believed that the Fire was started deliberately. Some blamed the French or Dutchdue to recent or ongoing wars and disputes between the countries. They said that foreigners werestarting fires throughout London by throwing fireballs, made of an animal fat called tallow, whichwere set alight and thrown into wooden buildings to deliberately kindle fires. Others suggest thatthe Fire was started because of tensions between people who followed different religions. In 1605there was a famous plot to blow up parliament (Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot!) whichwas led by a group of Catholics. Many people from London’s majority Protestant communitythought that the Fire was another Catholic plot. Some people even believed that the King himselfwas to blame. King Charles II was not universally popular, and some people thought that heordered the Fire to be started in order to distract from the bad behaviour and scandals that wenton in his court.

Challenge your pupils to forget the real reason behind the Fire and to come up with their ownstory about how it started. Do they think that it was started deliberately, and if so by whom andwhy? Or do they think it was an accident? And if so, how did it start? There is an activity sheetthat they can use for their creative writing.

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd



Activity 6: A monument to the Fire

Sir Christopher Wren was a famous architect from the time of the Fire. He was responsiblefor the design for the new St Paul’s Cathedral (which still stands today). Along with anothersuccessful architect, Robert Hooke, Wren designed a monument to mark the Great Fire. It is a61m tall column and it stands just 61m from Pudding Lane where the Fire started. The monumenthas a copper urn full of flames on the top to symbolise the Fire. The monument which still standstoday is actually known as The Monument! There is even an Underground train station whichshares its name. It is possible to climb the 311 steps inside The Monument to get a great viewacross London and to see the area that was devastated by the Great Fire.

Challenge your pupils to design their own monuments to the Great Fire. Can they label theirdesign to indicate what materials they would use to build their monument? Your pupils couldeven construct models of their designs using cardboard or other recyclable materials.

Activity 7: Great Fire poem

The Great Fire of London was an incredible sight to witness. Challenge your pupils to write apoem about the Fire. They should try to use lots of words that convey how their senses wouldhave reacted to the sights, sounds and smells of the Fire.

Why not try… using the initial letters from the words Great Fire to create an acrostic poem?

Extension activity: The nursery rhyme song London’s Burning was inspired by the events of theGreat Fire (even though there weren’t fire engines to fetch at the time!). Try singing the song withyour class – can you split the class into groups and sing it successfully as a round?!

London's burning, London's burning.Fetch the engines, fetch the engines.Fire fire, Fire Fire!Pour on water, pour on water.

Why not try… performing the song at a sharing assembly with the rest of the school?

Activity 8: Arty challenge

Challenge your pupils to create a piece of artwork inspired by the Great Fire of London. Theycould create a fire collage using red, yellow and orange tissue paper. They could draw on blackpaper using wax crayons. Provide a range of art materials and allow your pupils imaginations torun wild!

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd



Pupils’ pack contents

● ‘About the Great Fire of London’ activity sheets (2)● ‘My Great Fire diary’ activity sheet● Extracts from Samuel Pepys’ diary● ‘What would you save?’ activity sheet● ‘Conspiracy theory’ activity sheet● Design a monument to the Fire● Blank sheet with the border top and bottom for your pupils’ own artwork and writing

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd



© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd


About the Great Fire of London (1)Read each of the facts about the Great Fire of London and then answer the questions. Try to writeyour answers in full sentences in your own words. Don’t forget your punctuation!

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Fact: The Great Fire of London started in the bakery of Tom Farynor on Pudding Lane. He missed a glowing ember in the fire when he cooled the ovens, and this spark started a smallfire in the early hours of Sunday 2nd September. Initially, the fire was not remarkable, and didn’tappear to be spreading quickly.

1) How did the Great Fire of London start?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Fact: It was when the roof of Farynor’s bakery collapsed that the fire began to spread withoutbeing checked. Sparks – fanned by a strong dry wind – set fire to the Star Inn across the yard. The wind carried sparks further, setting fire to the wooden houses nearby. As burning timberbeams from roofs fell across the narrow streets, the fire had a further route to spread. By dawn,warehouses along the River Thames were on fire, and the contents of these – including oil, hay,coal and hemp – all burnt easily and fiercely making it impossible to tackle the flames.

2) What caused the Fire to spread?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Fact: At its height, the Great Fire of London destroyed around 100 houses an hour.

3) Assuming that the Fire burnt at this rate, how many houses would have been destroyed in:

a) Two hours? _____________________

b) Six hours? _____________________

c) One day? _____________________

d) Three days? _____________________

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd


About the Great Fire of London (2)Read each of the facts about the Great Fire of London and then answer the questions.

Try to write your answers in full sentences in your own words. Don’t forget your punctuation!

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

Fact: The fire continued to burn fiercely for four days and four nights, finally beginning to dieout on Wednesday 5th September. The fire subsided for several reasons: the wind dropped, whichmeant that sparks from the fire were not being spread so widely; effective firebreaks were createdby a team led by the Duke of York using gunpowder to blow up large numbers of buildings in onego to create substantial gaps more easily than physically pulling houses down; and the fire hadreached the stone walls of an ancient medieval church called the Temple, these walls did not burnas easily as the structures made of wood.

1) What factors caused the Great Fire of London to stop burning?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Fact: Most Londoners believed that the Fire was started deliberately. Some blamed the French orDutch due to recent or ongoing wars and disputes between the countries. They said that foreignerswere starting fires throughout London by throwing fireballs, made of an animal fat called tallow,which were set alight and thrown into wooden buildings. Others suggest that the Fire was startedbecause of tensions between people who followed different religions. In 1605 there was a famousplot to blow up parliament (Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot!) which was led by a group ofCatholics. Many people from London’s majority Protestant community thought that the Fire wasanother Catholic plot. Some people even believed that the King himself was to blame. KingCharles II was not universally popular, and some people thought that he ordered the Fire to bestarted in order to distract from the bad behaviour and scandals that went on in his court.

2) Describe one of the conspiracy theories surrounding how the Great Fire of London started:

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Imagine that you are living in London in September 1666. Create yourself a character. This couldbe a fictional character, or someone we know existed, such as the baker Thomas Farynor or amember of his family. Write a diary extract from the point of view of your character, about whatthey have seen and heard during the blaze.

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

My Great Fire diary

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd


© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd


These extracts from Samuel Pepys diary were written on the day that the Great Fire started,Sunday 2nd September 1666.

Some of our mayds sitting up late last night to get things ready against our feast to-day, Janecalled us up about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City. So I roseand slipped on my nightgowne, and went to her window, and thought it to be on the backside ofMarke-lane at the farthest; but, being unused to such fires as followed, I thought it far enoughoff; and so went to bed again and to sleep. […]

By and by Jane comes and tells me that she hears that above 300 houses have been burned downto-night by the fire we saw, and that it is now burning down all Fish-street, by London Bridge. SoI made myself ready presently, and walked to the Tower, and there got up upon one of the highplaces […] and there I did see the houses at that end of the bridge all on fire, and an infinitegreat fire on this and the other side the end of the bridge […]

So down, with my heart full of trouble, to the Lieutenant of the Tower, who tells me that it begunthis morning in the King's baker’s’ house in Pudding-lane, and that it hath burned St. Magnus’sChurch and most part of Fish-street already. So I down to the water-side, and there got a boatand through bridge, and there saw a lamentable fire. […] Everybody endeavouring to removetheir goods, and flinging into the river or bringing them into lighters that layoff; poor peoplestaying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats, orclambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another. And among other things, the poorpigeons, I perceive, were loth to leave their houses, but hovered about the windows and balconystill they were, some of them burned, their wings, and fell down. Having staid, and in an hour'stime seen the fire: rage every way, and nobody, to my sight, endeavouring to quench it, but toremove their goods, and leave all to the fire, and having seen it get as far as the Steele-yard, andthe wind mighty high and driving it into the City; and every thing, after so long a drought,proving combustible, even the very stones of churches […]

I to White Hall […] and there up to the Kings closett in the Chappell, where people come aboutme, and did give them an account dismayed them all, and word was carried in to the King. So Iwas called for, and did tell the King and Duke of Yorke what I saw, and that unless his Majestydid command houses to be pulled down nothing could stop the fire.

So near the fire as we could for smoke; and all over the Thames, with one's face in the wind, youwere almost burned with a shower of firedrops. This is very true; so as houses were burned by

these drops and flakes of fire, three or four, nay, five or six houses, one from another. When we could endure no more upon the water; we to a little ale-house on the Bankside, over against the 'Three Cranes, and there

staid till it was dark almost, and saw the fire grow; and, as it grew darker, appeared more and more, and in corners and upon steeples, and between churches and houses, as far as we could see up the hill of the City, in a most horrid malicious bloody flame,

not like the fine flame of an ordinary fire.

Extracts from Samuel Pepys’ diary


Samuel Pepys wrote the following in his diary on Monday 3rd 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 mynight-gowne in the cart; and, Lord! to see how the streets and the highways are crowded withpeople running and riding, and getting of carts at any rate to fetch away things.

Imagine that you have to save five of your own possessions. What would you save, and why?

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

1) ___________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

2) ___________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

3) ___________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

4) ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

5) ______________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

What would you save?

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd

Although we now know that the Great Fire of London was an accident, and know where it beganand how it spread, this was not common knowledge at the time. There were a number of rumoursand conspiracy theories about what caused it. Can you come up with your own story about how itstarted? Do you think that it was started deliberately, and if so by whom and why? Or do youthink it was an accident? And if so, how did it start?

Name: _____________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

My conspiracy theory!

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd


My monument to the Great Fire of London

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Book

Com

pany

Ltd


© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.

The Great Fire Of London Video Diary


Parts:

Narrator:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

This play imagines the famous diary of Samuel Pepys is a video blog, in which he films his comments to camera and records the people he meets during the Great Fire of London.

NarratorSamuel Pepys the famous diarist Elisabeth Pepys his wifeJane their maidKing Charles ll his royal highnessThomas Bloodworth Lord Mayor of London (1665-66)

Just imagine if one of the most famous diaries in history had been recorded as a video diary on Samuel Pepys’s webcam...

Good evening, dear diary. It’s a new month, the first of September. My word, it’s been a hot, dry summer. London has been baking. I’ve kept away from the centre of town where it is so dusty and smelly. I avoid it like the plague... Come to think of it, the plague avoided us, luckily. It struck down many hereabouts last year.

Who are you talking to, Samuel?

Ah, dear wife Elisabeth. I am recording a diary of our times.

Can I have a look? Just a few peeps.

Call me Samuel, not Pepys. You can use my first name after eleven years of marriage. This is 1666, after all.

And to think I married you when I was only fourteen.

That’s actually true, dear diary. And I was twenty two. Phew!

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Jane:

Elisabeth:

Jane:

Elisabeth:

Jane:

Samuel:

Jane:

Samuel:

Narrator:

Samuel:

Is something the matter, my dear?

Can you smell burning? Has the maid overcooked something in the kitchen?

I shall ask her. (Calling) Jane, can you come hither? It is almost midnight. She should be in bed rather than cooking a loaf. I hope the crust has not burnt again as it is hard for me to eat with my false teeth.

(Whispering) That’s true, dear diary. My wife is twenty six and has false teeth made of bone. But don’t tell her I told you.

(Knocks and enters the room) You called, madam?

Are you baking, Jane?

I’m quite warm, yes madam.

No, I mean are you cooking something in the oven?

Yes, madam – a fruit cake.

Ah ha! I’ve just thought of a good riddle. What’s fruity and burns?

I have no idea, sir.

The GRAPE fire of London! (They stare at him, totally puzzled)No, I’m not sure that’s funny, either. Maybe it will strike me as funnier tomorrow. And so to bed...

The next day, just hours later...

Good day, dear diary. It is very early on Sunday 2nd September.

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Jane:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Jane:

Samuel:

Jane:

Samuel:

Jane:

It smells as if Jane is already up and cooking something rather fiery.

You’re talking in your sleep again, Samuel. Blow out the candle and return to bed. It is only three o’clock in the morning. What’s that smell?

I don’t think it is me, dearest. It must be the candle.

(calling at the door) Sir, madam... the sky over the city is red.

Then it should be a fine day later. You know what they say; ‘red sky at night, shepherd’s delight...’

Or maybe the shepherd is on fire. Go and open the door in your night gown, Samuel.

But I don’t have a door in my night gown, dearest.

Ask Jane what she can see exactly.

(Opening door) What can you see exactly, Jane?

(Shocked) Ah! Your bare legs, sir. And no periwig.

No, where do you see something of concern in the sky?

Through the window in the other room, sir.

(Looking out of that window) There appears to be a blaze far off. I think it is on the back side of Mark Lane.

I don’t know Mr Lane, sir. And why would his backside be on fire?

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Samuel:

Narrator:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Jane:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Narrator:

Samuel:

Narrator:

No, Mark Lane is a street on the other side of the city. It is far enough away and of no concern. Back to bed.

Just a few hours later at 7.00 am on Sunday 2nd September, 1666...

(Samuel is dressed) Are you up and dressed already, dear? You look a little orange in the face.

It is the glow through the window, Elisabeth. I fear the fire is spreading.

(Calling at the door) Sir, madam... I hear the fire started at Farynor’s Bakery in Pudding Lane. The Star Inn and over three hundred houses have burned down. The fire is now burning down all Fish Street, by London Bridge.

Then I shall walk to the Tower of London to see this fire for myself...

Take good care, Samuel. Don’t get scorched. And don’t be late home. We have a dinner party this evening.

An hour later at the edge of the fire (sizzle, crackle, pop...)

I cannot believe what I am seeing - an infinite great fire on this and the other side of the bridge. It has burned down St. Magnes Church and most part of Fish Street already. The riverside warehouses are full of oil, hay, coal and tar – they are all ablaze. The heat is too much, I must retreat.I must warn the Lord Mayor immediately...

Samuel knocks on the Lord Mayor’s door – A grumpy man opens the door in his nightcap (silly place for a door!)

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

What is it? What do you want?

Mr Bloodworth, sir. It is Samuel Pepys.

Pepys? What do you think you are doing waking up the Lord Mayor of London at this hour on a Sunday morning?

I am waking up the Lord Mayor of London at this hour on a Sunday morning – on account of a fire.

What? Is my house on fire?

No – but many streets by the river.

Phew – that’s a relief. I thought for a moment my breakfast had overcooked.

If you care to look towards the river you will see smoke.

Are you telling me you disturbed me just for a puff of smoke? That’s hardly a fire. Wee could put that out.

We? Are you suggesting you and I could extinguish it alone?

Certainly not. Not we, but wee. My wife could put out those silly little flames just by peeing on them. You are making a fuss over nothing.

Sir, if you are quick enough, you can destroy houses in the path of the flames. Then they will spread no further.

What piffle. Now go away and leave me in peace (slams the door).

In that case, I must go to see the King himself. He must know of this danger. Yikes – what has landed on my head? It’s a burning pigeon!

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Narrator:

King Charles:

Samuel:

King Charles:

Samuel:

King Charles:

Samuel:

King Charles:

Narrator:

(Sudden noise of angry crowd)On my way to see the King, I see a vile mob. They shout that God has sent the fire to punish us and that foreigners started the fire. They’re attacking anyone who can’t speak English. Sacré bleu! (Gets hit by a flying cabbage)

King Charles the Second is at breakfast in his royal palace when a breathless Samuel is ushered in, covered in soot and smuts...

Mr Pepys, there is a smouldering pigeon and cabbage in your periwig.

Forgive me, your majesty - but the city is on fire. The wind is blowing so strongly that it will spread if you do not instruct your guards to pull down buildings to create firebreaks.

You must tell the Lord Mayor.

I have, your majesty – but he would not act.

What? Then I shall leap into action myself. I shall fight the fire with my own bare hands. In the meantime, take a coach to the Lord Mayor with my orders that no houses are to be spared in putting out the fire. Blow them up and pull them down to make firebreaks. Tell the fire brigade to work round the clock.

Er, two slight problems with that one, your majesty. One: all the clock towers have melted and burnt. Two: there is no fire brigade.

Then man the pumps! We must get water to the flames immediately.(They both run from the palace)

Back at The Lord Mayor’s House, things are hotting up...

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Bloodworth:

Samuel:

Narrator:

King Charles:

(Knocking on the door) Ouch, this door is red hot.

(Opens door, looking hot and dabbing his face with a handkerchief round his neck) Now what do you want?

The King has sent me. To put it bluntly, he thinks you’re a blithering nincompoop. He blames you for not pulling down houses in time to stop the fire spreading.

(Dropping to his knees, whimpering) Woe is me! What can I do? I am spent. People will not obey me. I told them to pull down houses but they will not. But the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it. I am so weak.

True. Too weak. More like a fortnight. And now you are crying like a fainting woman.

(Snivelling and sobbing) I’m going to get the blame for this forever. I will go down in history as a wimp. What a terrible nightmare.

What a terrible Lord Mayor, more like! Now, fetch your wife’s chamber pot and start pouring it on the flames...

(This could be mimed) Meanwhile, down at the River Thames, the King and his brother, the Duke of York (who later became King James the Second) were up to their ankles in water with buckets and spades. No, they weren’t building sandcastles but throwing water onto the flames. By the end of the day, King Charles was dirty and muddy, his face black and his clothes soaked. But even he couldn’t save Saint Paul’s Cathedral burning to the ground.

Holy Smoke!

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Narrator:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Jane:

Samuel:

Jane:

Meanwhile, back at his desk, Samuel sits stunned in the early hours...

Dear diary – I am exhausted. I walked along Watling Street as best I could, as it was chaos. Everyone was laden with goods to save from the fire, also carrying sick people in beds. Some escape with all their belongings by cart, others by boat. There is a huge arch of fire from this to the other side of the bridge, a mile long. It makes me weep to see it. The churches, houses, and all on fire and flaming at once, and a horrid noise the flames make.

Why are you sniffing, Samuel? Do you have a cold?

Nothing is cold round here! I’m crying, Elisabeth. It is all so tragic. We may soon have to escape by boat. I have already moved my silver and valuables to my friend outside the city.

(Scowling) Not one of your lady friends, I hope.

This is no time for a domestic argument, Elisabeth. I am very worried about my cheese.

Sometimes, Samuel, I worry about you.

It is a very expensive Parmesan cheese from Italy. I’ll tell Jane to put it somewhere safe. I don’t want it to melt. Did you know that lead is melting from roofs and running down the streets aglow? (Calls) Jane! Jane!

You called, sir?

Fetch my cheese.

On toast, sir? How would you like it?

© M

MX

VI T

he S

alar

iya

Boo

k C

ompa

ny L

td.



Samuel:

Elisabeth:

Samuel:

Narrator:

In a hole. I want you to bury it in a hole in the garden. I fear our house will soon become an inferno. The night sky looks as if the whole of heaven is on fire.

Then why don’t you bury yourself as well, dearest? Then you’ll have cheese if you get hungry, a grave already prepared and a cosy plot to be cremated in when the fire reaches us.

Elisabeth! You are making fun of me. We must escape and I will take my video diary with me. One day I will be famous for my words. I’ll be a celebrity... get me out of here! (He runs out screaming)

Which all goes to show YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO BE IN THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON... EVER! (The play could finish with the song ‘London’s burning’, maybe as a round)London’s burning, London’s burning,Fetch the buckets, fetch the buckets.Fire, fire, fire, fire,Pour on water, pour on water(The last line could be changed each time eg: Save my big cheese,Run like blazes, Stop it raging, It’s all over, Start rebuilding)

Documents

You Wouldn’t Want to Be in the Great Fire of London! · The raging flames are a frightening sight, ... England was at war with the Dutch, ... end of the bridge all on fire,