In which month did the Great Fire of London begin?

On 2 September 1666, an event started that would change the face of London. The Great Fire of London broke out from a baker's house in Pudding Lane. By the time it was over four days later, much of the medieval city lay in smoking ruins.

The fire started at 1am on Sunday morning in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane. There was no fire brigade in London in 1666 so Londoners themselves had to fight the fire, helped by local soldiers. They used buckets of water, water squirts and fire hooks. Equipment was stored in local churches. The best way to stop the fire was to pull down houses with hooks to make gaps or 'fire breaks'. This was difficult because the strong wind that evening forced the fire across any gaps created.

The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. It threatened but did not reach the City of Westminster (today's West End), Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban slums. It destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities.