fire of london homework ideas

The Great Fire of London – KS1 resources

Get your class to explore the Great Fire of London with our animated videos and a variety of activities, created for KS1 teachers. Some of the activity sheets are available in different versions for those who may need a little help, or those who want an extra challenging task.

Teachers' notes for these resources

The KS1 teachers’ notes provide additional facts and context for each of the resources below, and some instructions for using them in your classroom. The teachers’ guide to 1660s London explains who the characters in the three videos below are, with details about their lives and their connections to Pepys’s diary. The glossary explains some of the key terms.

1. What was life like in 17th-century London?

The accompanying activity is available in two versions, one a little more challenging, and one with a little bit of help.

2. How did the Great Fire of London start?

This timeline activity teaches learners the story of the Great Fire from start to finish, while building their chronology skills. There are two difficulty levels.

3. How do we know what happened?

This activity sheet introduces the concept of historical evidence, explaining primary and secondary sources. There are two difficulty levels.

4. Who was Samuel Pepys?

This video and activity sheet introduce the life and work of the man behind the famous diary.

Photograph of the Pepys Library by Andrew Dunn (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The activity accompanying the video is available in two versions.

4.a. How did Pepys write his diary?

Learn more about how Pepys kept his diary secret and try reading the words he wrote.

5. How did people fight the Great Fire of London?

Using objects from the museum’s collection, this group activity challenges learners to think about 17th-century firefighting tools.

6. How did they rebuild London?

The activity accompanying this video helps learners build connections between causes, problems, and solutions.

These resources were produced by the Reimagining the Restoration project, a partnership project between London Museum and the University of Leicester. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (grant ref. AH/W003651/1).

We’d love to know what you think of these resources. Please get in touch with [email protected] and [email protected]

• Primary Hub
• Art & Design
• Design & Technology
• Health & Wellbeing
• Secondary Hub
• Citizenship
• Primary CPD
• Secondary CPD
• Book Awards
• All Products
• Primary Products
• Secondary Products
• School Trips
• Trip Directory
• Trips by Subject
• Trips by Type
• Trips by Region
• Submit a Trip Venue

Trending stories

Top results

• 5 Of The Best Resources For Teaching The Great Fire Of London

Great Fire of London KS1 – Best history teaching resources

We’ve picked out the best lesson plans, resources and activities to teach the Great Fire of London in KS1…

Up your game with our pick of the best Great Fire of London KS1 lesson plans, resources and activities …

Up until the point when a 69-year-old woman removed someone else’s dessert from a freezer on a popular television show, no baker had caused such a fuss as Thomas Farriner of Pudding Lane, 351 years ago in London.

Time will tell if The Great British Bake Off will be studied in schools in the year 2368. But until then we’ll keep focusing on old Tom and the little to-do that emerged from his establishment.

It’s an important event, and one that you can weave into almost any area of the curriculum. Here we’ve picked out the best Great Fire of London KS1 lesson plans, resources and activities to get you going.

Classroom resources

Alternatives to teaching the great fire of london (again), ks1 cross-curricular activity ideas.

Give your class a burning desire for drama, art, history and science with these KS1 cross-curricular activity ideas for the Great Fire of London .

Year 2 scheme of work

This incredible Year 2 Great Fire of London scheme of work from literacy resources website Plazoom is based on the events of 1666. It includes planning and resources for a half-term. You get teaching notes, worksheets, teaching slides and more.

Year 2 SATs writing assessment resource pack

This Year 2 Great Fire of London writing assessment resource pack from Plazoom gives KS1 children the chance to create cross-curricular writing that you can assess against the  KS1 Teacher Assessment Framework  (TAF).

Pupils need to write a set of instructions for how to rebuild the city after the fire. Inside the pack you get a pupil writing checklist to encourage independent proofreading and editing. There’s also a Powerpoint, picture cards, writing sheets and a TAF writing assessment checklist.

Minecrafting the Great Fire

The Museum of London has a wonderful selection of teaching resources on its website. This includes an interactive story and, perhaps best of all, a Minecraft version of 1666’s tragic tale .

Story of the Great Fire

This massive (and free) resource has absolutely loads for you to choose from. Contrast fire safety from the past with today. Study the buildings of the period and create your own. Look at rhymes and songs or write diaries in the style of Samuel Pepys.

That doesn’t even scratch the surface of what you will find with these resources .

Samuel Pepys

The Historical Association produced this topic pack on the Great Fire of London. It covers the events leading up to it, its causes and why it spread and what London was like afterwards. It also looks at Samuel Pepys and Christopher Wren.

This set of KS1 resources was created by teachers who adapted a range of history approaches from Nuffield Primary to fit their classes.

Since the introduction of the revised national curriculum in 2014, primary teachers have invested a great deal of time and energy into reviewing the significant people studied at KS1.

This work has resulted in children studying a much more diverse group of figures and a better understanding of who constitutes a significant individual.

Prompted by the guidance in the national curriculum, teachers have also given attention to how these figures interconnect and how their lives link into history at a local, national and international level.

Sadly, my visits into KS1 classrooms suggest that we’re yet to give the same energy and attention to the range of events we teach.

These are often limited to the Gunpowder Plot and the Great Fire of London in KS1. While we may regard both as significant, the result is many pupils leave KS1 having little knowledge of time periods beyond the Stuarts.

Significant event

My observations are supported by findings from a Historical Association primary survey. It showed that 73% of teachers taught the Great Fire of London as their significant event. This was followed by the Gunpowder Plot.

The national curriculum’s only statutory requirements are that the events we teach should be significant nationally or locally and are beyond living memory.

Further guidance is limited to just two examples. These are the Great Fire of London and the first flight – and the suggestion that we teach events through anniversaries or festivals.

With so little support provided within the national curriculum, it’s no surprise that many teachers, faced with the challenge of their own limited historical subject knowledge and with little time to seek out new resources, continue to teach the events they learnt about in their own primary school education.

Significant or not?

There is no denying that the Great Fire and the Gunpowder Plot are powerfully engaging stories. They’re full of interesting characters and a huge legacy of evidence. Rather than erasing them from our planning, I propose we provide our pupils with a more balanced view of past events.

Before deciding which events to include, it is vital to be clear exactly what we mean by ‘significance’. Using Christine Counsell’s criteria is an excellent starting point before developing your own ideas. She says that to be historically significant, a person, location or event must be:

• Remarkable –  remarked upon by people at the time and/or since
• Remembered –  important at some stage in history within the collective memory of a group or groups
• Resulted in change –  it/they had consequences for the future
• Resonant –  people like to make analogies with it/them. It is possible to connect it with experiences, beliefs or situations across time and space
• Revealing –  of some other aspect of the past

We also need to consider what constitutes an ‘event’. Yes, it is something that happened in the past, but of what duration?

Consider the First World War. Is it a particular battle or incident within it, like the Christmas Truce, that is the ‘event’?

To support better understanding while working with KS1 pupils, I suggest starting with in-depth stories like the Christmas Truce. This then offer opportunities to link into the wider perspective.

Much-loved topics

When planning the events to cover at KS1, take into account what happens at KS2 in your school. For example, you may decide to study the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb. But is this a wise choice given that your pupils may go on to study the Egyptians at KS2?

While we should avoid repetition of topics, it may provide opportunities in setting the scene for areas to be studied later in greater depth and possibly with a different emphasis.

Many teachers have been disappointed by the loss of much loved topics at KS2 like the Victorians and Tudors. Could we use the opportunities provided by significant events at KS1 to include aspects of these topics?

For example, for the Victorians you could explore the 1829 Rainhill trials and introduction of the railways. Or you could look at the sinking of the Mary Rose in 1545 during the reign of Henry VIII.

When you are selecting the events to be studied, look for balance not just in time periods but also in the nature of the events with regard to political and social changes.

A challenge can also be to find events that do not focus on the bad times in the past. Including events related to celebration and achievement – the Great Exhibition in 1851 or the introduction of women’s suffrage, for example – helps to dispel distorted images of the past.

Spanning time

There is a great deal to be gained from studying at least one event per term. To provide opportunities for this within a crowded curriculum it may be that the event is related to your study of a significant person.

Linking events to significant people also gives you the opportunity to introduce more recent events like the first man on the moon through your study of Neil Armstrong or the coronation of 1953 when looking at the life of Queen Elizabeth.

Your events could also be part of your local study but then provide you with opportunities to make connections to national events. An example would be the arrival of the railway or canals in your local area and then the significance of these developments nationally.

Introducing a range of events provides valuable opportunities for strengthening pupils’ chronological understanding through considering when this event has taken place in relation to others. It also lays the foundations of pupils developing a sense of period through the introduction of a broad range of events spanning time.

Using stories

The introduction of the sinking (or launch) of the Titanic in 1912 is a memorable event worthy of study at KS1. Our leading maritime museums have been developing resources to support the study and while a visit to one of them would be an advantage, pupils’ learning would be equally successful based on their resources.

The event may provide opportunities for linking into your locality study. Liverpool, Belfast and Southampton all have strong connections, but members of the crew also came from all over the country.

For example, band leader Wallace Hartley was from Colne in Lancashire. Colne is very proud of the connection and Wallace is remembered at many sites in the town.

The Titanic story also provides many opportunities for cross-curricular links, most significantly with geography through charting the journey of the ship, and also of the many migrants on board. There are opportunities for looking at how transport has changed over time and comparable journeys today.

Using story is a popular way to approach this event. The book  Polar the Titanic Bear  was written for Douglas Spedden, a seven-year-old who survived the tragedy. While it doesn’t ignore the tragedy, through its focus on a survivor it emphasises the positive.

Another way into the story is through objects. For example, at the National Maritime Museum you can see a  musical toy pig that belonged to Edith Russell Rosenbaum .

As with all events, there is no requirement to look at the Titanic story in its entirety. You may decide it is more appropriate to focus on its launch and life on board.

The sinking of the Titanic is only one of many events that is perfect for enriching the KS1 curriculum. Just remember, an engaging story, a wealth of characters and good resources are important, but the starting point should be whether the event is worthy of joining the ranks of significant events.

Bev Forrest is a primary teacher trainer and member of the Historical Association primary committee. She is on the editorial board of the journal Primary History and is an assessor for the History Quality Mark.

Sign up to our newsletter

You'll also receive regular updates from Teachwire with free lesson plans, great new teaching ideas, offers and more. (You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Which sectors are you interested in?

Early Years

Thank you for signing up to our emails!

You might also be interested in...

Why join Teachwire?

Get what you need to become a better teacher with unlimited access to exclusive free classroom resources and expert CPD downloads.

Exclusive classroom resource downloads

Free worksheets and lesson plans

CPD downloads, written by experts

Resource packs to supercharge your planning

Special web-only magazine editions

Educational podcasts & resources

Access to free literacy webinars

Newsletters and offers

Create free account

By signing up you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy .

Already have an account? Log in here

Thanks, you're almost there

To help us show you teaching resources, downloads and more you’ll love, complete your profile below.

Welcome to Teachwire!

Set up your account.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipisicing elit. Commodi nulla quos inventore beatae tenetur.

I would like to receive regular updates from Teachwire with free lesson plans, great new teaching ideas, offers and more. (You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Log in to Teachwire

Not registered with Teachwire? Sign up for free

Reset Password

Remembered your password? Login here

Great Fire of London Resources

Great Fire of London KS1 Newspaper Report Reading Comprehension

Great Fire of London Newspaper Writing Templates

Great Fire of London Word Mat

Great Fire of London Role Play Masks

Great Fire of London Diary Writing Templates

Great Fire of London Word Mat Display Version

Great Fire of London Display Banners

Great Fire of London Timeline Ordering Activity

Great Fire of London KS1 Information PowerPoint

Great Fire of London KS1 Reading Comprehension

Great Fire of London Samuel Pepys’ Story Mini-book – Blank Version

Great Fire of London Samuel Pepys’ Story Mini-book

Great Fire of London Samuel Pepys’ Story PowerPoint

Great Fire of London Samuel Pepys’ Story eBook

Great Fire of London Colouring Pages

Great Fire of London Sequencing Activity

Great Fire of London Lego STEM Challenge

Great Fire of London Samuel Pepys Diary Template

Great fire of london resources.

Explore a whole range of  Great Fire of London 1666 Resources for History lessons in KS1. Get creative ideas and save planning time with high quality and engaging Great Fire of London worksheets, PowerPoints, display ideas and games, all created by a subject specialist.  Explore a large resource bank of expertly created and beautifully designed  Great Fire of London KS1 resources, games and activities that will enable you to deliver curriculum-aligned KS1 history lessons.

The Great Fire of London for KS1 Children

We’ve created a whole range of Great Fire of London resources for KS1 children including: Great Fire of London timeline activity, Great Fire of London information PowerPoint, Great Fire of London ebook, Great Fire of London KS1 reading comprehension and much more – which will enable you to teach the whole topic. Start off by showing the children the lesson presentation, reading through the main points, and asking key questions to help develop children’s knowledge and skills. Follow up by asking children to complete our Great Fire of London reading comprehension, or putting the events of the Great Fire of London in chronological order with our Great Fire of London timeline activity. You can also ask children to create their own diary, using our Samuel Pepys diary template , perhaps imagining what it must have been like to be an eye-witness, there at the time. This ties in beautifully to your English lesson, and becomes a cross-curricular activity. We’ve also created a fantastic Great Fire of London ebook, to really help children to understand truly what it must have been like at the time.

Great fire of London year 2

Privacy Overview

*NEW* Mixed-age geography scheme of work now available for KS1!

Great Fire of London: 7 Essential Resources for KS1 & KS2

Looking for the Great Fire of London resources for KS1 & KS2? In this post, we’ll share several engaging activities including free printables, facts, games, children’s trails, quizzes and colouring pages. Perfect for parents and teachers looking to ignite curiosity in kids to learn about this fascinating historical event.

Generations of British schoolchildren have been captivated by the stories from the annus horribilis of 1666. In this post, we have compiled a list of engaging activities and facts about the Great Fire, mainly focused on KS 1 and KS2.

You will find references both to real places in London you can visit and digital resources to inspire children at home or in school.

7 Great Fire of London teaching resources

Step into the pages of history with our comprehensive collection of Great Fire of London resources! Ignite curiosity in kids and empower teachers with captivating materials, interactive lessons, and immersive tales from that fiery chapter of London’s past

1. Treasure Hunt Map

Embark on an unforgettable journey to the City of London! Trace the path of the Great Fire by using our specially crafted self-guided walking trail, perfect for young explorers eager to delve into the captivating tale of London’s past. Join us on this adventure through the heart of the City of London, unravelling the historic sites and intriguing stories woven into the fabric of the Great Fire.

Highlights along the Great Fire of London walking route:

• St Paul’s Cathedral – St Paul’s Cathedral was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren after it was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.
• The Guildhall – was one of the few buildings to survive the Great Fire of London and served as a meeting place for the city’s officials during the rebuilding process.
• Leadenhall Market – Leadenhall Market was rebuilt after the Great Fire of London and became an important location for trading goods.
• Sky Garden – Get up high in the Walkie-Talkie Building and check out the view of the City from the Sky Garden.
• The Monument – The Monument was built to commemorate the Great Fire of London and its column is 202 feet tall, which is the exact distance between the monument and the spot where the fire started in Pudding Lane.
• St Dunstan in the East – St Dunstan in the East was badly damaged during the Great Fire of London and its ruins have become a symbol of the city’s resilience and rebirth.

This self-guided walking trail takes you on a journey through the city, where you’ll visit the locations affected by the fire, such as Pudding Lane , where the fire started, and the Monument , which was built to commemorate the disaster. Along the way, you’ll learn fascinating facts about the fire and the people who lived through it.

Being a local London family accustomed to the wonders of the City, we’ve meticulously crafted an exclusive map tailor-made for young adventurers of every age. Set your own pace and create cherished memories together.

Included in this package;

• A unique printable hand-drawn map through the City of London
• A guide for all the attractions along the trail made easy for kids to follow.

All you need to do is download the two PDF files and print them at home in colour or black & white. Alternatively, you can also use the digital versions and follow the path on your mobile or tablet.

Treasure Hunt – Download Today – only £3.50 for Map + Guide.

2. Online Quiz

How well do you know your Great Fire of London history? Answer LondonDuckling’s very own interactive quiz with 15 essential questions about the fire and see if you can get all the facts right. Don’t worry if you don’t get all the answers right on the first try – you can re-take the quiz as many times as you want 🙂

Engaging in quizzes to learn about specific subjects, such as the Great Fire of London, offers a valuable educational approach for children. By integrating quizzes into the learning process, children can interact with historical events in an active and engaging manner.

Take our Great Fire of London Quiz for kids (free)

3. Colouring Page

Learning history is not only about remembering hard facts about historical events. So get your crayons out and see if you can colour this famous printable drawing of the Great Fire: 

In the drawing above, the fire can be seen from Southwark and is from Samuel Rolle’s book “The Burning of London in the year 1666” which was published the year after the fire in 1667:

St Paul’s can be seen on the left and St Mary Overie (later Southwark Cathedral) in the foreground, with the river Thames filled with terrified people fleeing with their possessions. On the south side of London Bridge can be seen pikes displaying the heads of executed traitors

Print out a Great Fire of London colouring page (free)

4. Online Game

The Museum of London has created an interactive online game called “The Great Fire of London” that allows school children to step back in time and experience the events of 1666 in a fun and engaging way.

In the game, children take on the role of Thomas Farriner, the baker whose bakery was the starting point of the fire, and must navigate through the streets of London to try and save their family and friends from the flames. Along the way, they will encounter various challenges and obstacles that were faced by real people during the fire, such as finding a safe place to sleep and avoiding falling debris.

Through the game, children can learn about the events of the Great Fire of London and gain a deeper understanding of what life was like during this tumultuous time in history. The game also features educational resources such as maps, timelines, and fact sheets that can be used to supplement classroom learning.

Play an interactive Great Fire online game (free)

5. Tudor house model

Take a step back in time and recreate the charm and elegance of a medieval house with a printable Tudor house model . Perfect for children learning about the Great Fire in KS1 and KS2, this digital download makes it easy peasy for anyone to make a replica of a typical Tudor house in Pudding Lane from 1666. We’ve even made sure to include a jettied second floor leaning out in the street!

With detailed instructions and an easy-to-follow template, this digital download makes it simple and fun to create your own pop-up Tudor house. Simply print the templates, cut out the pieces, and assemble them using glue or tape. No special skills or tools are required – just a printer, some glue and a pair of scissors!

Download the Tudor House Model Template – only £1.99

Set Fire to a Street of Cardboard Tudor Houses

Important: Not to be attempted without proper supervision and safety precautions!

Create an educational experiment inspired by the Great Fire of London. Set up a line of Tudor-style cardboard and paper houses to recreate the layout of Pudding Lane in 1666. By simulating controlled fires in these model buildings, children can witness the rapid spread of flames, highlighting significant factors that contributed to the Great Fire: the narrow streets, flammable structures, and the role of wind. This hands-on experience offers a vivid understanding of the historical event’s key causes.

Steps to recreate the fire:

• Construct Tudor model houses with jettied floors using cardboard or paper materials.
• Arrange the model houses in two rows, mirroring the layout of Puddling Lane during that era.
• Position the second floors and roofs closely to emulate the narrow streets of 1666.
• Select a specific house to represent Mr Farriner’s bakery, and simulate the ignition of the fire.
• Observe the progression of the fire as it travels from house to house, influenced by the prevailing wind conditions.

Important safety precautions when incorporating a real fire as part of a school project:

• Supervision : Always have an adult present during the activity.
• Designated Area : Use a controlled, well-ventilated space.
• Fire Extinguisher : Have one nearby in case of emergency.
• Protective Gear : Wear fire-resistant gloves and eye protection.
• Small Scale : Keep the fire controlled and use minimal fuel.
• Emergency Plan : Establish clear evacuation procedures.
• No Play : Emphasize the educational purpose and seriousness.

Fire Safety Discussion : Before starting the project, discuss fire safety with participants, explaining the importance of caution and responsible behaviour.

By engaging in projects involving fire, students gain experience that integrates history, science, safety awareness, and practical skills. It’s an opportunity to foster a deeper understanding of historical events while emphasizing responsible behaviour and safety considerations.

6. Books about the Great Fire

Great for ks1: toby and the great fire of london.

• Paperback: ‎  32 pages
• Age recommendation: 5-6 years old in KS1

Description: A charming pocket-sized paperback, perfect for our year 1 students’ introduction to The Great Fire of London. While the official reading age is 6-11, we think the narrative and colourful illustrations are best suited for 5-6-year-olds in KS1. The language strikes a balance between comprehension and vocabulary growth. The book sparks discussions, promoting critical thinking about historical cause and effect. “Toby and The Great Fire Of London” isn’t just a story; it’s a tool that inspires curiosity, exploration, and a lasting love for history.

Great for KS2: Usborne Young Reading – The Great Fire of London 

• Hardcover ‏ : ‎  64 pages
• Age recommendation: 7-8 years old in KS2

Description: Delve into the Tale of the Great Fire of London in 1666! Learn what sparked it, how it raced through the city, how brave folks fought it, and how London was reborn from its ashes. It’s a simple yet complete introduction to this major historical happening. This book is like a treasure from the Usborne Reading Programme, just right for kids who are getting good at reading but still like a bit of a challenge. It’s your ticket to becoming a history detective and unravelling the secrets of the past!

7. Essential facts

Here are a few essential facts for kids to learn about the Great Fire of London, including how the fire started, what caused it to spread so quickly, how they stopped the fire, and how the city was rebuilt after the disaster.

1. Pudding Lane: How it all started

Thomas Farriner (or Farynor) had a bakery in Pudding Lane and was known around London as the King’s Baker. Like normal was for bakers during the time he needed to keep his ovens at a steady high temperature, which also meant he had to pile a massive amount of wood in his kitchen.

Thomas Farriner most likely used a beehive oven which is a dome-shaped brick construction that looks a bit like a bees’ nest, hence the name ‘beehive’. Because of the shape of the dome, heat is effectively trapped in the oven. In this way, the bread (or any food) would get evenly baked.

Recommended KS1 activity: Visit the actual location of Pudding Lane in London

Mr Farriner’s beehive oven

All the parts of the beehive oven in Pudding Lane were made of brick, including the oven’s base, or floor, and its sides. Sometimes the outer surface was covered with a layer of clay or lime to seal it. The oven was heated by making a fire burn for long enough to heat all the bricks. Only then was the oven ready to use, and the loaves were inserted.

Nobody knows exactly what happened, but about two o’clock in the morning of Sunday 2nd September 1666, this wood caught fire. The flames spread quickly, and soon all the downstairs rooms in the bakery were on fire. Mr Farriner and his servants had to climb onto the bakery roof and jump across to the house next door. By the time Mr Farriner had woken his neighbours, the whole bakery in Pudding Lane was on fire. By dawn that morning, dozens of buildings in the area were alight.

Today, Pudding Lane is a fairly unassuming street with mostly post-war modern buildings. There’s actually not much to see except for a plaque created in 1986 near the original site where the famous bakery once stood. Pudding Lane is located right next to The Monument, though, so if you are in the area it’s an easy spot to find walking down Monument St.

What caused the Great Fire of London?

A spark from a bakery caused the initial fire which rapidly spread because of 4 main factors:

1) Windy and dry weather conditions 2) Narrow streets with jetties sticking out above the streets 3) Wooden highly flammable buildings 4) Slow initial response from the King

2. How did the fire spread

The summer of 1666 was hot and long, and by September, most of London was tinder dry. Almost all the houses were timber-framed houses with thatched roofs and a strong eastern wind sent the flames of the fire from house to house across the very narrow streets.

Many buildings were warehouses that stored barrels of brandy and spirits and oil which are very flammable. The barrels exploded in the heat and threw balls of flame out of windows and doors.

How did the leaning houses contribute to the fire?

Jettied buildings were a common architectural feature in medieval London. These buildings were characterized by upper floors that extended out beyond the lower floors, creating an overhang or jetty. This overhang was supported by wooden beams or corbels that extended from the upper walls and floors.

While jettied buildings provided additional living space for their inhabitants, they also posed a significant fire hazard. The overhangs and wooden supports created narrow, enclosed spaces between buildings that were difficult for firefighters to access in the event of a fire. This meant that if a fire started in one of these buildings, it could easily spread to neighbouring buildings through the narrow gaps and cause widespread damage.

During the Great Fire of London in 1666, the jettied buildings leaning out into the streets were a major contributing factor to the rapid spread of the fire. The narrow streets of the city were already congested with people and their belongings, making it difficult for firefighters to manoeuvre and access the burning buildings. The overhanging upper floors of the jettied buildings provided additional fuel for the flames, causing the fire to spread quickly from one building to the next.

Furthermore, the wooden supports and beams used to create the jetties were highly flammable and easily ignited. Once these wooden elements caught fire, the flames quickly spread to the rest of the building, causing it to collapse and creating a domino effect that contributed to the rapid spread of the fire.

As a result of the devastation caused by the Great Fire of London, building regulations were put in place to prevent the construction of jettied buildings and to improve the overall fire safety of buildings in the city. These regulations helped to ensure that future buildings were constructed in a way that minimized the risk of fire and helped to prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future.

3. How the fire was put out

By Wednesday, 5th September, the wind changed direction, and the fire stopped spreading. But, unfortunately, there was no fire brigade at the time of the Great Fire, so the King took charge of fighting the fire. Unique fire posts were created, and fire-fighting equipment was sent to them. Soldiers were sent in to help.

The King ordered houses to be knocked down, so the fire could not spread. Water from the river, fountains, and wells was passed in buckets along the lines of men. Watchmen also used syringes.

Samuel Pepys – The famous eyewitness

Samuel Pepys (“Samuel peeps”) worked for the Navy and Member of Parliament. He was an eyewitness to the events of the Great Fire.

At the time of the Great Fire, Samuel Pepys lived in Seethings Lane, close to the Tower of London. He wrote about his daily life in his diaries for ten years, and they tell us about life in London in the 1660s.

As the flames of the Great Fire got closer to his house, he wrote in his diary that he had decided to bury in his garden the most important things in his life. These were his wine, papers, and cheese.

4. How life went on afterwards

The Great Fire of London lasted for five days. It had burned 13,200 houses and 87 City of London churches . As a result, many people were left homeless.

London had been devastated by the fire, so King Charles asked the great architects to build a new city. Christopher Wren planned a cleaner and healthier city with houses built of brick and stone and with no wooden buildings allowed.

The Monument commemorates the Great Fire. Its height is 61˝ meters tall – the distance it stands from the site of Thomas Farryner’s bakery in Pudding Lane.

Key facts summarised:

• The fire started in the year 1666
• Thomas Farriner’s bakery in Pudding Lane was the place it all started
• The fire started when a spark from an oven ignited and fell into a pile 
• The majority of the Farriner household was able to climb to safety
• A maid was unable to escape and became the first victim of The Great Fire
• London’s buildings were mostly made from wood during this period 
• The houses in The City of London were tightly packed across narrow streets
• The fire spread quickly because of the strong easterly winds
• People attempted to gather all their belongings and fled towards the Thames 
• Others raced through London’s gates to reach the fields 
• Samual Pepys was the first to inform the King about the fire 
• Pepys recommended houses be destroyed to stop the fires from spreading
• The Tower of London was threatened by fire, so extra fire engines were sent to the site to prevent its destruction. 
• The Tower housed the most valuable belongings of the City’s wealthiest residents.
• 13.200 homes and 87 churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral, were destroyed by the Great Fire
• The temperature of the fire reached 1,700°C
• Surprisingly only six people are known to have died in the Great Fire
• The City was rebuilt with brick and stone, instead of wood, after the fire
• “The Monument” near Pudding Lane was erected to commemorate the fire  
• Sir Christopher Wren became the leading architect rebuilding the City 

I’m a KS1 teacher and used page a lot when gathering materials for my class – thanks a lot for pulling all of this together!

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Recommended, vikings in london: discover the real story, museum of london: things to do with kids, 59 amazing city of london churches to explore.

Display Settings

Welcome to the display settings! Click the "Get Started" button below or use the buttons above to choose which setting(s) you want to change.

Get Started

Select your preferred typeface/font from the list below.

Next Setting

Colour Theme

Select your preferred colour theme.

Select the text size that you find the easiest to read.

Letter Spacing

Line height.

The Great Fire of London was a fire that was so big that it burned nearly all of the buildings in London, with the exception of the Tower of London as that was made from stone, and stone doesn't burn up easily.

All settings are saved automatically and can be changed at any time. What do you think of this feature?

26th June 2019

The Great Fire of London

The fire started from a baker’s shop in September 1666. One of the reasons why the fire was so big was because the houses in London were made of wood which burns easily.

Thankfully, the fire was only able to spread inside the City of London because of London. So if you lived on the other side of the River Thames, you would be safe. Hooray!

The fire lasted for four days and Charles II (the king at the time) helped put out the fire. Well done, Charles!

What happened after the fire?

After the fire, a major project was started in order to rebuild London. Many people submitted their plans for rebuilding London, which you can see here . Some people wanted London to have large public spaces and wide streets whilst others wanted London to be easy to navigate, with the streets and buildings in a perfect grid.

Many of the famous buildings in London were built immediately after the fire, such as St. Paul’s Cathedral, which was the tallest building in London when it was finished in 1675.

Username or E-mail

Remember Me

Vlad and the Great Fire of London

Home » Book Resources » Key Stage 1 » Vlad and the Great Fire of London

Vlad and their friend, Boxton the rat, love eating and biting their way around London. But one night in Pudding Lane they are caught up in a fire that threatens to destroy them, along with most of the City of London.

Main Focus: True or False

This activity for KS1 is linked to Vlad and the Great Fire of London and focuses on True or False statements.

Your Year 1 / Year 2 class will read the sentences and decide whether they are true or false based on what the have read or heard in the story.

This resource has been differentiated 3 ways.

Main Focus: Adjectives

This activity focuses on adjectives.

We have created two different activity. in one activity your class must identify the adjectives in the sentences and in the other activity they must add in the adjectives using the list, their memory or think of their own adjectives.

Main Focus: Story Sequencing

We have taken some of the main events from Vlad and the Great Fire of London, wrote them in our own words and created this activity.

Your KS1 class must read the events and sequence them into chronological order.

It could be useful to allow some of your Year 1 / Year 2 kids to cut out the events so they can easily and quickly edit their work.

Main Focus: Non-Fiction

This resource explores information and facts on Samuel Pepys and King William II.

Main Focus: Homophones - Where, Wear & Were

This activity focuses on where, wear and were used within the context of the book.

Your class must identify which homophone correctly completes the sentences.

Main Focus: Word Mat and Cloze Activity

This activity is independent from the book and doesn’t include text from it. Your class must read the sentences and add in the pictures or words to complete the sentences.

These sentences are more factual and will introduce your class to Thomas Farriner, the baker.

You can also use this to help your class write a descriptive recount of the events of The Great Fire of London.

Main Focus: Comprehension

This is a comprehension aimed at Year 1 and Year 2 classes and focuses on Vlad and the Great Fire of London book.

Your class will use their knowledge and understanding of the story to answer the questions as best as they can. We have differentiated this resource to cater for all Ks1.

Main Focus: Capital Letters and Full Stops

This is an activity that encourages your class to look for capital letters and full stops in the sentences.

Main Focus: Vocabulary Extension

This activity focuses on some of the most challenging vocabulary used to explore more with your KS1 class.

Your class will study the words and add them to the sentences within the context of the story.

Main Focus: Vocabulary 2

This activity allows your class to write what they think each word means. They get a chance to put their understanding of the vocabulary into their own words.

• Create new account
• Reset your password

Register and get FREE resources and activities

Ready to unlock all our resources?

The Great Fire of London

In 1666, a huge fire that started in a tiny bakery burned down most of London. The fire was so big that it was called the Great Fire of London .

The fire lasted four days, and burned down over 13,000 homes. There are a lot of reasons why the fire was so large, mostly to do with the way houses were built – a lot of them were made from wood, and were very close together.

Top 10 facts

• The Great Fire of London happened between 2-5 September in 1666.
• The fire began in a bakery in Pudding Lane.
• Before the fire began, there had been a drought in London that lasted for 10 months, so the city was very dry.
• In 1666 , lots of people had houses made from wood and straw which burned easily. Houses were also built very close together.
• We know what happened during the fire because people back then wrote about it in letters and newspapers – for instance, Samuel Pepys wrote about it in his diary.
• Artists who were alive in 1666 painted pictures of the fire afterwards, so we know what it would have looked like if we’d been there too.
• To fight fires during this time, people would have used leather buckets, metal hooks and water squirts.
• People whose homes had burned down lived in tents in the fields around London while buildings were rebuilt.
• When houses were rebuilt, a lot of them were made in bricks instead of wood, and they weren’t built so close together.
• Sir Christopher Wren designed a monument to remember the Great Fire of London, which still stands today.

The Great FireTimeline

• 25 September, 1666 A Commons Committee was set up to look into what caused the fire
• 10 October 1666 A day of fasting was held to commemorate the fire, and collections were taken up to raise money to help poor people who had lost their homes
• 27 October 1666 Robert Hubert was hanged at Tyburn for starting the fire – he confessed that he did this, but it later turned out that he was innocent and that the fire was an accident
• 22 January 1667 The Commons Committee wrote a report about the fire, and the King’s Council decided that the fire was an accident
• 1668 New fire prevention regulations for London were approved by Parliament
• 1671 Work began on the monument to the Great Fire of London
• 1677 The monument to the Great Fire of London was finished
• 1680 Nicholas Barbon set up the first fire insurance company, the Fire Office

Boost Your Child's Learning Today!

• Start your child on a tailored learning plan
• English & maths resources added each week to your plan
• Watch your child leap ahead in their learning & confidence

Did you know?

• The huge fire began early in the morning in a tiny bakery on Pudding Lane owned by a man called Thomas Farriner. He’d forgotten to put out the fire in his oven the night before.
• Samuel Pepys was worried that the fire was becoming too large, and asked King Charles II for help.
• Lots of people went to St. Paul’s Cathedral to escape from the fire because it was made from stone – stone does not burn. But some of the roof was made of wood, so this didn’t turn out to be a very good plan!
• The fire burnt down a lot of buildings – over 13,000 houses, 87 churches and even St. Paul’s Cathedral!
• Around 70,000 people lost their homes in the fire. These people had to set up tends in the fields around London so they had a place to stay.
• Houses burned so easily because they were made from wood and straw. Plus, they were built close together along narrow streets, so the fire was able to move around easily and quickly.
• In March 1667, Samuel Pepys wrote that he could still see some cellars that were smoking from the fire – six months after it was put out!

The Great Fire of London gallery:

• The top of the monument to the Great Fire of London
• Monument to the Great Fire of London
• A painting of the great fire of London by an unknown artist; the Tower of London is shown on the right
• A painting of the Great Fire of London by an unknown artist around 1670 shows Ludgate, the westernmost gate of the London wall
• A drawing of St. Paul’s Cathedral on fire
• A picture of firehooks, which were used in the 17th century to pull down burning buildings in an effort to contain fires
• John Evelyn
• Samuel Pepys
• King Charles II
• Sir Christopher Wren
• The street sign for Pudding Lane, where the fire began
• A plaque marking where the fire began on Pudding Lane
• A piece of charred wood from the Great Fire of London
• A leather firebucket like the ones used to fight the Great Fire of London
• What wooden houses in the 1660s looked like

Thomas Farriner’s family was trapped upstairs in their house when the fire broke out, and they had to escape through a window into the house next door. Their maid was too scared to jump, and died in the fire.

People didn’t have large fire hoses in the 1660s – they would have carried water in leather buckets, squirted water through a big syringe (like a squirt gun), and pulled down burning buildings with long metal hooks.

There was a big argument about how to fight the Great Fire. The fire fighters wanted to tear down houses that might get burned so the fire wouldn’t spread so quickly, but the Lord Mayor of London disagreed. In the end, King Charles II had to ask for the houses to be pulled down, but by then the fire had already grown very big.

Because the fire destroyed so much, some people thought that someone meant to start it, not that it was an accident in a bakery.

It is recorded that only six people died in the fire, but this may not be true – sometimes when poor people died their deaths weren’t recorded.

The houses that were rebuilt were made from bricks instead of wood . The new streets were also designed to be wider, and sewers were installed so the city was more sanitary.

When the houses and shops that had been destroyed in the fire were being rebuilt, people thought it would also be a good idea to build a monument to remember the Great Fire of London. It was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and took six years to build – it is 61 metres high, which also the same distance between where it stands and site in Pudding Lane where the fire began. It has a bronze sculpture on the top to look like flames.

The first proper London Fire Brigade was created in 1866, 200 years after the Great Fire.

Names to know:

Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723) – Christopher Wren was a famous architect who designed St. Paul’s Cathedral. He had some ideas for how London could be rebuilt after the Great Fire, but the plans were rejected. Instead, he designed a monument to the Great Fire near where it began on Pudding Lane.

Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) – Samuel Pepys is most famous for keeping a diary for most of the 1660s, so he wrote a lot about the Great Fire in 1666. He also played an important part in helping to fight the fire by warning King Charles II that more needed to be done on the day the fire broke out (the King himself, and the Duke of York, took charge).

King Charles II   (1630-1685) – King Charles II ruled from 1660-1685, and was king during the Great Fire of London. He helped the fire fighters, gave rewards to people who tried to stop the fire, and helped people who were hungry and homeless after the fire was over.

James, Duke of York (1633-1701) – The Lord High Admiral of England. Along with King Charles II, James took charge of the fire fighting efforts and helped to end the Great Fire. James’ guards acted as policemen to keep people and shops safe during the fire.

John Evelyn (1620-1706) – John Evelyn warned King Charles II in 1661 that the way houses in London were built would mean that a fire would be a disaster. When the Great Fire happened in 1666, he wrote about it in his diary – he walked around the city on 7 September and wrote about how people who had lost their homes were camping in the fields, and that the ground and charred wood was still so hot that holes burned in his shoes.

Thomas Farriner (1616-1670) – Thomas Farriner was a baker and owned the shop were the first fire broke out on 2 September 1666 that eventually led to most of London burning down. He was a baker to King Charles II.

Related Videos

Just for fun...

• An  interactive story  from the Museum of London mixes facts about the fire with multiple-choice questions to answer along the way
• Great Fire 1666: A Minecraft Experience – explore Minecraft maps to find hidden objects, burn London, fight the fire and rebuild the city!
• Make your own 1600s fire squirt and construct a Great Fire paper bucket chain with templates from the National Emergency Services Museum
• Complete a CBBC Newsround Great Fire of London quiz
• On 4 September 2016 a wooden replica of the 1666 city was set ablaze on the Thames to mark the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire
• Watch the Horrible Histories Grisly Great Fire of London Special
• Explore the Great Fire of London through dance and movement activities
• Take the Grisly Great Fire of London Horrible Histories quiz
• Make a lolly stick theatre to tell the story of the Great Fire
• Redesign your own dream London , post-Fire, on a downloadable map

Find out more about the Great Fire:

• The Museum of London has a whole website dedicated to the Great Fire and it's full of beautiful animations and facts to explore
• A children's introduction to the Great Fire and Samuel Pepys from DKfindout!
• Listen to three BBC School Radio audio clips about the Great Fire of London: before the Fire , nursery rhymes based on the Fire and rebuilding London after the Fire
• What was the Great Fire of London? Read CBBC's newsround report
• The Great Fire explained by the London Fire Brigade
• Join historian Greg Jenner for a BBC Sounds kids' homeschool history lesson on The Great Fire of London
• Watch a video showing what London streets looked like in 1666
• See a map of London showing how the Great Fire spread
• See short BBC animations exploring the causes of the Great Fire , what happened during the Fire and how the city was rebuilt afterwards
• Horrible Histories author Terry Deary busts Great Fire myths
• Read kids' historical fiction about the Great Fire
• Examine the evidence to find out more about the Great Fire: look at some of the famous documents connected with the Great Fire of London and find out how London changed as a result of the Fire
• See Great Fire-related items like the water buckets used to fight the fire
• The story of the Great Fire of London : listen to a BBC Schools Radio programme

Children's books about the Great Fire of London

See for yourself

• Visit the monument to the Great Fire of London near Monument tube station in London. There are stairs in the middle of the column that you can walk up, meaning you can see far across the city when you get to the top.
• You can also see another memorial to the Great Fire of London, the Golden Boy of Pye Corner in Smithfield, which marks the spot where the fire stopped.
• The Museum of London has items from the Great Fire on general display.
• Follow a self-guided tour of the destruction left by the Great Fire of London
• A  multi-sensory experience about the Great Fire of London is part of the tour at the London Dungeon.

Give your child a headstart

• FREE articles & expert information
• FREE resources & activities
• FREE homework help

• International
• Education Jobs
• Schools directory
• Resources Education Jobs Schools directory News Search

Great Fire of London set of 7 history lesson plans

Subject: History

Age range: 5-7

Resource type: Unit of work

Last updated

25 August 2024

• Share through email
• Share through twitter
• Share through linkedin
• Share through facebook
• Share through pinterest

This is a set of 7 lessons on the Great Fire of London with aims, activities, vocabulary and references to the National Curriculum. The lessons use Vlad and the Great Fire of London and have linked resources, but you can use and adapt in whatever way is most useful to you and your class.

I love this topic and have tried to include plenty of talk, drama activities and images that bring it to life, in a way that will excite children, and give them the tools to write and discuss with enthusiasm. The Big Questions aim to give them a wider perspective and stretch their understanding. I visit schools linked to my book ‘Vlad and the Great Fire of London’, for information about this please look at the Reading Riddle website.

If you have found this useful please give it a review :) and look at my other free resources.

Creative Commons "Sharealike"

Your rating is required to reflect your happiness.

It's good to leave some feedback.

Something went wrong, please try again later.

This looks great, thank you. How do I find the PPT and the resources to go with it please?

Empty reply does not make any sense for the end user

winnieandpiglet

Brilliant ideas to get going with!

Fabulous resource. Thank you for all your hard work. Your enjoyment of this topic is evident in the planning. Thank you

Report this resource to let us know if it violates our terms and conditions. Our customer service team will review your report and will be in touch.

Not quite what you were looking for? Search by keyword to find the right resource:

The Great Fire Of London Plan

A medium-term plan linked to the Great Fire of London, designed for Year 2.

Download the file below and use the ideas in your own lessons!

The Great Fire of London Plan

Download File

Islamic Patterns

You may also like, latin words and their meanings, world war 2 day ideas, stone age day ideas, ways to use lego in the classroom, teaching ideas for a tudor day, teaching ideas for a greek themed day, leave a comment cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Join our Newsletter

Get new teaching ideas and resources in your inbox every week!

FREE EMAIL UPDATES!

London homework