The GREAT FIRE OF LONDON: How a Wooden City Burned Down | History for Sleep

In September 1666, a fire that started at a bakery in Pudding Lane swept across London and destroyed about 85 percent of the walled City. This film follows the fire, the search for someone to blame, and the rebuilding in brick. Across 12 chapters, the film follows the Great Fire from a timber city in drought, through the Pudding Lane bakery, Samuel Pepys's warning to King Charles the Second and the burning of Old Saint Paul's, to the losses and the Fire Court. It sets out the rival explanations of the time: the Crown and Privy Council saw drought, wind and the hand of God; Puritan dissenters and Dutch pamphleteers saw divine punishment; frightened crowds blamed Catholics and foreigners, while English Catholics protested their innocence. It tells how Robert Hubert, a watchmaker from Rouen, confessed and was hanged although he reached England only after the fire began, and how London was rebuilt in brick. It ends with the Monument, where words blaming Catholics were added in 1681 and finally removed after the Roman Catholic Relief Act of 1829. Chapters: 00:00 Chapter 1 — A City Built to Burn 08:54 Chapter 2 — The Baker of Pudding Lane 13:40 Chapter 3 — Sunday: The Diarist Goes to the King 20:51 Chapter 4 — Monday: The Duke of York Takes Command 28:19 Chapter 5 — Tuesday: St Paul's Burns 34:15 Chapter 6 — Wednesday and After: The Wind Drops 39:33 Chapter 7 — The People Who Wrote It Down 46:28 Chapter 8 — Strangers and Papists 54:50 Chapter 9 — The Confession of Robert Hubert 1:01:49 Chapter 10 — Counting the Losses 1:08:42 Chapter 11 — Plans on Paper, Rebuilding in Brick 1:17:59 Chapter 12 — The Monument and Its Inscription Researched and scripted from the sources listed, audited for balance, and reviewed by a person before publishing. Narration is AI text-to-speech; images are AI-generated illustrations, not historical photographs. Key sources: Records and writings from 1666 and 1667: Sunday 2 September 1666 (The Diary of Samuel Pepys) Monday 3 September 1666 (The Diary of Samuel Pepys) His Majesties Declaration - London Museum, 1666-09-05 The Report of ye Commete of ye house of Commons for ye inspection of ye firing London God's Terrible Voice in the City - Thomas Vincent A short narrative of the late dreadful fire in London 1667 : Waterhouse, Edward - Internet Archive Londens Puyn-hoop, oft Godts Rechtvaerdige Straffe (1666) Rebuilding of London Act 1666 (as enacted) Museums, libraries and archives: Robert Hubert and the Great Fire of London Discovering the archaeology of the Great Fire of London Great Fire Pudding Lane plaque, 1681 The Monument to the Great Fire of London Great Fire of London: How London changed - The National Archives Historians: The Great Fire of London (Stephen Porter) - The History Press When London Burned to Sticks: The Economic Impact of the Great Fire of 1666 Facing up to catastrophe: The Great Fire of London Book 1, Ch. 15: From the Fire to the death of Charles II - British History Online Financing the rebuilding of the City of London after the Great Fire of 1666 The Great Fire of London : in that apocalyptic year, 1666 : Hanson, Neil Full list of all 252 citations available on request; ask in the comments. Spot an error or a missing perspective? Leave a comment with a source and we'll review it. #History #GreatFireOfLondon #London