WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
The Great Plague and the Great Fire of London
In 1665 and 1666, London suffered two catastrophes that came to define the early Restoration period. The Great Plague of 1665 killed between 70,000 and 100,000 Londoners — roughly a quarter of the city's population. The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed most of the medieval city within four days. Both events are known in unusual detail because of the diary of **Samuel Pepys**, a naval administrator who witnessed both and recorded them with extraordinary immediacy. The rebuilding of London after the Fire produced some of the finest architecture in England — above all, Christopher Wren's St Paul's Cathedral.
The Great Plague, 1665
The plague that struck London in 1665 was bubonic plague — the same disease (caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, spread by the fleas of black rats) that had caused the Black Death of 1348. Plague had never fully disappeared from England: there had been outbreaks throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The 1665 outbreak began in the parishes of St Giles-in-the-Fields (on London's western edge) in the spring, and spread rapidly through the crowded, insanitary conditions of the city. By the summer of 1665, hundreds were dying each week; by September, the weekly death toll exceeded 7,000.
Responses to the plague:
- Flight: Those who could afford to leave did — including the court, the king, and Samuel Pepys himself for a period. Charles II moved to Oxford; the court dispersed to the country.
- Quarantine: Infected households were "shut up" — the doors marked with a red cross and the words "Lord have mercy upon us," and a watchman posted to prevent anyone leaving. The household, infected and healthy alike, was locked inside for 40 days. This was deeply unpopular and of questionable effectiveness.
- Pest houses: Dedicated buildings where plague victims could be taken, away from the general population.
- Bills of Mortality: Weekly counts of deaths, by parish, published and distributed — the most systematic epidemic data collection in English history to that point.
Why did it stop? The plague ebbed in the autumn of 1665, for reasons that remain debated: seasonal effects on flea and rat populations, growing immunity in the surviving population, changes in the black rat population. The Great Fire of 1666 probably helped destroy some plague reservoirs in the old city, but plague had already been declining.
Primary source
Samuel Pepys's Diary
**Samuel Pepys** (1633–1703) was a naval administrator who kept a diary from 1660 to 1669 — one of the most detailed and vivid accounts of the Restoration period in existence. He recorded the plague ("This day I did in Drury Lane see two or three houses marked with a red cross upon the doors, and 'Lord have mercy upon us' writ there"), the fire, the Dutch wars, the politics of the court, and his own personal life with extraordinary candour. His diary is the primary source for much of what we know about everyday life in Restoration London. For the exam, Pepys is important as a witness: his accounts of the plague and fire are firsthand evidence of how contemporaries experienced and understood these events.
The Great Fire of London, 1666
The Great Fire broke out on 2 September 1666 in a bakery on Pudding Lane, near London Bridge. A hot, dry summer had left the city's wooden buildings tinder-dry. A strong north-easterly wind fanned the flames westward through the city.
What was destroyed:
- 373 acres of the medieval city burned — about 80% of the City of London within the walls
- 13,200 houses destroyed (leaving approximately 100,000 people homeless)
- 87 parish churches, including the old St Paul's Cathedral
- The Royal Exchange, Guildhall, and most city company halls
- Remarkably, very few people died — estimated at between 6 and 16, though this figure is probably too low
The fire burned for four days. It was finally stopped partly by blowing up houses in its path (creating firebreaks) and partly because the wind dropped.
Key individual
Christopher Wren (1632–1723)
Christopher Wren was a scientist before he was an architect — a professor of astronomy at Oxford, a founding member of the Royal Society, and a man of extraordinary mathematical ability. The Fire gave him the opportunity of a lifetime. He presented Charles II with a complete plan for rebuilding London in a rational, continental style (wide streets, piazzas, a direct vista to St Paul's). The plan was rejected — property owners insisted on rebuilding on their existing sites rather than accept a new city plan. But Wren designed **52 new churches** and the new **St Paul's Cathedral**, begun 1675 and consecrated 1697. St Paul's is his masterpiece and the defining building of Restoration England. For the exam, Wren matters as the symbol of the Restoration's intellectual and cultural ambition — science applied to the built environment.
The rebuilding of London
Parliament passed the Rebuilding Act of 1666, which established new standards for the rebuilt city:
- Houses must be built of brick or stone — not wood (reducing future fire risk)
- Streets must be wider than before
- New building regulations set standards for different classes of buildings
The rebuilding was rapid: within ten years, most of the city had been rebuilt. London emerged from the Fire as a cleaner, better-built city — though not the grand rational design Wren had envisaged.
The new St Paul's Cathedral — replacing the destroyed medieval cathedral — was constructed between 1675 and 1711. Its great dome, visible across the city, became the symbol of the rebuilt London. The AQA historic environment site for Restoration England in the 2028 exam year is St Paul's Cathedral.
Causes and conspiracy theories
Both the Plague and the Fire were interpreted through a political and religious lens. Nonconformists (and their opponents) saw the disasters as God's judgement — but disagreed on who was being punished and why. The Fire in particular generated conspiracy theories: a French Catholic named Robert Hubert confessed (falsely) to starting it, was tried, and hanged. The Monument to the Great Fire, designed by Wren and Robert Hooke, originally carried an inscription blaming Catholics — removed in 1830.
The Fire was not deliberately set. The most recent expert consensus confirms the Pudding Lane bakery as the origin, and the conditions (drought, wind, wooden buildings, narrow streets) as the cause. But for contemporaries in 1666 — already frightened by plague, the Dutch wars, and the Catholic succession — the Fire was easily absorbed into a narrative of conspiracy and divine punishment.
Why this matters for the exam
Plague and Fire as windows into Restoration society
AQA questions on this topic often ask about how the Plague and Fire reveal aspects of Restoration society. Key points: the response to the plague (flight of the rich, quarantine of the poor, Bills of Mortality) reveals sharp social inequality; Pepys's diary is exceptional primary evidence for how contemporaries experienced crisis; the Fire accelerated the rebuilding of London and produced Wren's architectural masterpieces; the political interpretation of both disasters (as divine judgement, Catholic conspiracy) shows how religion and politics were inseparable in this period. A sophisticated answer connects these events to the wider politics of the reign: the Catholic Question makes the conspiracy theories about the Fire more understandable, even if historically wrong.
Revision checklist
Before moving on, make sure you can answer:
- What caused the Great Plague of 1665? How was it transmitted?
- How did people respond to the plague? Give at least three responses.
- Who was Samuel Pepys? Why is his diary historically important?
- When did the Great Fire start? Where did it break out?
- What was destroyed in the Fire?
- How was the Fire eventually stopped?
- Who was Christopher Wren? What did he design after the Fire?
- What new building regulations were introduced after the Fire? Why?
What's New snippet
Article slug: gcse-history-restoration-england-great-plague-great-fire
Title: Pepys watched the city burn — London's twin catastrophes of 1665 and 1666
Samuel Pepys recorded both: the red crosses on the doors of plague houses in 1665, and the glow of the burning city that woke him from sleep in 1666. The Great Plague killed roughly a quarter of London's population. The Great Fire destroyed 80% of the medieval city. What followed was a rebuilding programme that gave England Christopher Wren, 52 new churches, and the dome of St Paul's.