How Did The Great Fire Affect The City Of London?

London has encountered many challenging situations in its existence. On September fifth of 1666, a fire ignited by Thomas Farriner’s bakery spread rapidly through the city of London. Farriner started the fire in the oven to cook bread;however, he forgot about the fire and went to sleep. His house went up into flames,and the fire began to spread through the streets of London quickly. The great fire lasted over a span of four days. The fire eventually destroyed thirteen thousand and five hundred houses,eighty-seven parish churches, forty-four company halls, city prisons and many other essential buildings. The great fire of London is a catastrophe known around the globe. The fire affected London socially, architecturally and economically.
Before the fire, London was known for being congested (Heathcote). The fire caused the London Building Act of 1667 to emerge which stated that all houses should be built out of stone and or brick (Heathcote). Wren’s St Paul’s was forced to be rebuilt after the fire causing it to become London’s newest icon (Heathcote). London gained its chance to rebuild itself after the fire. The citizens started to plan the rebuilding of the city within days; however, their reconstruction was put to a halt until their homes were up to code(Hanson 245). When the citizens were allowed to begin building the city again, they soon realized that the new buildings would follow the paths of the Romans(Heathcote).
The fire destroyed the legendary St. Paul’s Cathedral. Christopher Wren was responsible for designing a new St. Paul’s because he had submitted plans, previous to the fire, that involved redesigning the cathedral (Davies). When the fire began, the people of London began to place valuables in the courtyard which caused the cathedral to burn quicker (Davies). Because the reconstruction was solely based off citizen’s funds, the intended vision for the city was not completely successful. The new Saint Paul’s is a sight known around the