1-157-977 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Great Fire of London, 1666 (c1865). Boats full of citizens who have escaped cross the Thames while others look back to Old St Pauls and the blazing city from the safety of the South Bank. Above the main illustration are portraits of Charles I (1600-1649) Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector (1699-1658) and Charles II (1630-1685). The fire, the worst in London's history, began in a bakery in Pudding Lane and lasted for 4 days. Fanned by a strong east wind, the conflagration destroyed some 13,000 houses, 87 churches and the old St Paul's Cathedral.