Great Fire of London Map 1666

Great Fire of London started at the king’s bakery in Pudding Lane and before the last flames were extinguished 5 days later 436 acres, 13,200 houses and 87 churches, including St Paul’s Cathedral, lay in ruins.

To establish the extent of the destruction and to plan the re-construction the Lord Mayor commissioned this pictorial map from Bohemian artist Wenceslas Hollar to draw an ‘An exact surveigh of the streets, lanes and churches contained within the Ruines of the City of London’. He could not have made a better choice of draughtsman for within a few months Hollar had produced this detailed map. It shows the full extent of the vast area that was totally devastated by the fire. The roads and riverside wharves are marked; the sites of 170 major buildings that were destroyed are listed. He even includes the coats of arms of over 50 Livery Company halls that were lost.

Hollar exceeded his brief for not only did he show the full extent of the destruction but he also illustrated much of the area that survived by including detailed sketches of thousands of houses, scores of churches, the city wall and even trees in the gardens. These unburnt areas show us what London looked like three and a half centuries ago. A dramatic painting shows London burning at the height of the fire. Each map also has a description of the fire including eye witness accounts from the diary of Samuel Pepys.