Who Started The Great Fire Of London?

Over 350 years ago, England’s capital city, London, burned to the ground. The Great Fire
started shortly after midnight on Sunday the 2nd September, 1666. It finally ended over
three days later, on Wednesday the 5th September.
The destruction was massive - eight in every ten buildings was consumed by the fire, including
over 13,000 houses and 87 churches. Between 70,000 and 100,000 people were left homeless;
several thousand more probably perished.
But how did the fire start? Was it merely an accident, or part of a deadly plot to devastate
England?
The Great Fire began on Pudding Lane, in the bakery of Thomas Farynor. He and his family
managed to escape by climbing out of the first floor window; sadly their maid did not, and
became the first casualty of the fire.
Miraculously, there were fewer than ten recorded deaths. But melted pottery proves the flames
reached temperatures of at least 1,250 degrees Celsius - more than hot enough to completely
destroy human bodies. In a crowded city of half a million people, historian Neil Hanson
estimates the death toll was possibly in the thousands.
Over three days, the blaze spread from Pudding Lane across 436 acres of London. Previously
indestructible strongholds like Baynard’s Castle and St Paul’s Cathedral were consumed.
As new buildings caught fire, suspicion arose that not every flame was an accident. England
was in the midst of war with the Netherlands and France. Witnesses reported foreign agents
going to work with matches and hand grenades. The Great Fire was now a terror attack.
Burning London to the ground would have been a crucial coup for terrorists. Alongside the
houses of the poor, the City prisons, the Royal Exchange, the financial district, the
Great Letter Office and the news printer’s all went up in flames. All of England’s
money, post and news communications went through these places - in the days of the fire, the
country was in clueless chaos.
Thomas Farynor, the baker widely blamed for the fire, insisted it was not an accident.
He argued that he throughly raked out his oven, removing all embers from it and therefore
preventing any fire from starting. For the rest of his life, he maintained that it was
an act of arson.
Farynor had every reason to believe this. Just the week before the Great Fire, the Royal
Navy had sailed into West Terschelling and set fire to the town and the Dutch fleet that
was moored there. The people of London were expecting a reprisal. And Farynor was Conduct
to the King’s Bakery - he supplied bread to the Royal Navy.
If the Dutch weren’t responsible, then there were always the Catholics. Protestant England
was constantly afraid of Papists, who were spurred on by England’s Catholic enemies,
France, Spain and Ireland. Six decades before, the Catholic Gunpowder Plot had nearly massacred
the government. As the fire raged, King Charles II’s brother led soldiers to round up all
foreigners and Catholics they could find - partly as suspects, and partly to protect them from
the angry mobs who tried to lynch them.
When London was rebuilt, a monument was erected near the site where the fire began. The inscription
on it mentioned a Popish conspiracy. The line was removed in 1830.
Just days after the Fire was over, a French Catholic called Robert Hubert confessed to
starting the Fire. He was hanged on the 28th September.
However, not even the jury believed Hubert was guilty. The only evidence against him
was his own confession, which he changed as he learned new facts about the fire. He refused
to retract it, making himself a ready scapegoat for the government. Thomas Farynor was at
his trial and watch him hang. A year after his execution, an official inquiry discovered
Hubert was not even in London until two days after the fire.
Authorities never believed the fire was anything more than an accident. Charles II told the
people of London that the calamity was an act of God. The inquiry reached the same conclusion.
The city comprised of cramped streets of medieval wooden buildings, confined by the ancient
Roman wall. The summer of 1666 had been very dry, making the old wooden structures perfect
tinder. What’s more, the shores of the Thames were lined with coal, oil, fats, gunpowder
and other combustible materials.
The fire in Pudding Lane started at the same time as a great gale arrived over the city.
Witnesses record how strong winds blew sparks and flames over the thatched roofs. Historians
believe it is no coincidence that the fire died down as the gale passed away.
The fire was also stopped by the deliberate demolition of buildings in the path of the
blaze. Creating fire breaks denied the flames further fuel. It was a desperate but successful
strategy.
The estimated cost of repairing the damage was £10 million - a huge sum, given London’s
annual income was £12 million. Today, the cost of rebuilding after a similar fire would
be £37 billion.
The English government and the king always believed the fire started by accident, in
the oven of Thomas Farynor. Historians all agree, because the list of arson suspects
is so small and unlikely.
Despite the disaster, the Great Fire of London gave the city the chance to rebuild itself;
to replace its squat wooden structures with new buildings of brick and stone. It burnt
away disease and filth, led to the creation of a fire service and fire insurance. The
question is, whether or not we believe the Great Fire was a product of arson or accident
- was it ultimately a good thing?

Who Started The Great Fire Of London?

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