Year 2's Great Fire of London Workshop

The pupils in Year 2 arrived dressed as chimney sweeps, bakers, maids and urchins, ready to take part in The Great Fire of London workshop. They were highly engaged as they explored the many factors that contributed to this devastating event in London’s history.

An exceptionally hot, long summer had left the wooden-framed buildings, thatched roofs and daub walls extremely dry. The streets were narrow, with houses built so closely together that, in many cases, neighbours could shake hands from the upstairs windows of their homes. At the same time, the plague was sweeping through the city. The homes of those suffering from the disease were boarded up, and only after a week would the doors be opened to see whether the occupants had survived. The streets were dirty and filled with rubbish and human waste. We learned how difficult it would have been to fight a fire in these conditions, especially as the wind helped to fan the flames, causing the fire to spread rapidly and bring such devastation to the city.

The pupils were able to experience the different professions and skills that Londoners in 1666 might have practised. They explored activities such as weaving, candlestick making, making ink and writing with a quill. They also learned how metalworkers created clay moulds to make buttons, discovered the skills of an apothecary, examined the tools used by a tanner, and explored the knowledge and equipment used by doctors at that time. The pupils were free to explore and enjoyed learning first-hand how physical and skilful these trades were.

We also discovered that the Mayor of London initially did not believe it was necessary to take action when the fire first started in Pudding Lane. The first known person to have died was believed to be the baker’s maid, who was too afraid to jump from the window to escape the flames.

Official records state that fewer than ten people died in the fire. However, those who had been boarded up in their homes because of the plague were not counted, as their deaths were not considered to be directly related to the fire. Records of births, deaths and marriages, which were kept in churches across the city, were also destroyed, and even St Paul’s Cathedral did not survive the blaze.

In the afternoon, the pupils became archaeologists, searching through “London rubble”, and detectives, examining artefacts to work out the professions of the people who might have owned them. They also considered whether these individuals might have been rich, poor or somewhere in between. Finally, each group was given a parchment revealing the true history of the Londoners they had been investigating and whether they had survived the fire.

Mrs Hogarth and Mrs Zylstra were delighted by how engaged the pupils were in all the activities, and by how well they listened and shared their opinions throughout the workshop.