Average History Trivia: The Great Fire of London | 10 Questions

Answer: September 2, 1666

The fire began at approximately 1:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. It burned out of control for five days and destroyed an area of one and a half miles by a half mile. It destroyed 373 acres inside the city walls and 63 acres outside. Flames swept through more than 400 streets and lanes. In all, 13,200 houses, 87 churches, and 52 Company halls were destroyed.

Answer: Pudding Lane

The fire started in the home of Thomas Farynor, the King's Baker. At 10:00 p.m., he had drawn his ovens and went to bed. Four hours later he was awakened by a servant screaming, "Fire!". He, his family, and the servant escaped through an attic window to the roof of the house next door.

Answer: True

A maidservant became the first casualty within the first few minutes of the fire. She was too afraid to climb over the roof.

Answer: Seething Lane

Samuel Pepys served on the Navy Board as Clerk of the Acts, and was one of the first to notify King Charles II of the fire. The fire did not burn his home but did destroy Barking Church at the foot of Seething Lane. Pepys wrote of the fire: "Over the Thames with one's face in the wind you were almost burned with a shower of firedrops." It is said that he buried wine and parmesan cheese to keep them safe.

Answer: St. Paul's Cathedral

Before the flames reached St. Paul's, people had been hiding their property in the basement, thinking that even if the cathedral burned, the items would be safe in the basement. Christopher Wren is famous for redesigning St. Paul's afterward. The cathedral has survived ever since, even during World War II. Also lost in the fire were Baynard's Castle, Royal Exchange, and The Temple, the district for London's lawyers.

Answer: False

Charles II was right in the midst of the fire, standing ankle deep in mud as part of a bucket passing line. He sent the militia to "pull down" houses to prevent the fire from spreading. Afterward, he not only had the difficult task of rebuilding, but convincing the people that the fire was an accident and not started on purpose by a foreigner or as an act of war.

Answer: Moorfields

The people fled mainly to Moorfields and Finsbury Fields. After the fire, many of them had to remain there, having been left homeless. King Charles II had biscuits sent to them from the Navy. Most of them remained uneaten because even though the refugees were hungy, they couldn't stomach the hard Navy fare.

Then Charles II ordered bread sent in from adjoining counties, to be distributed daily.

Answer: 6

Only six people are confirmed to have died due to the fire, most of them due to smoke inhalation both during the Great Fire and in the smouldering fires of the aftermath. It is believed that there were probably many more deaths, but there were only six confirmed.

Answer: False

There were houses on the bridge built very close together. Ironically, what kept the fire from spreading across London Bridge was a gap left from a previous fire from 1633.

Answer: All of these

Other contributing factors were that streets were narrow and the houses very close together. There was also the lack of a trained fire brigade. After the fire, laws were passed to keep such damage from ever occurring again. No houses were rebuilt along London Bridge, and the streets were built wider and only out of stone or brick.