The Plague and

the Great Fire of London

In 1665 London was the largest city in Europe. But the houses were very close together, and they were made of wood. In the old city there were many fires.

At that time London was a very dirty city. People threw rubbish into the streets and into the river Thames. Sickness spread quickly.

In 1665 people started to die from a disease called the bubonic plague. Thousands of people died from it. Doctors didn’t understand how the disease spread.

But there was a great fire in the following year. The Great Fire of London started in the bakery

on the 2 of September 1666. It lasted for 5 days and destroyed almost all of the old city.

Over 13,000 houses were burnt but very few people died in the fire. After the fire, London was a cleaner place – for a short time.