Great Fire of London Walking Tour with Kids, London, England

The Great Fire of London was a monumental event in London’s history. The blaze in 1666 destroyed thousands of homes and left St Paul’s Cathedral a smouldering ruin. Rebuilding the city gave rise to some of the best-known architecture to be seen in London today. Its importance means the Great Fire of London is a topic studied in many UK schools, particularly in year 2 (KS1).

After questions from my daughter, querying: ‘where is the great fire of London’ and ‘can you visit the great fire of London?’, we decided to retrace its pathway. We took a family trip to London to see the Great Fire of London locations on a self-guided walk. Read on for details of our Great Fire of London free family walking tour, information about the Great fire with facts for kids and climbing Monument with children.

The Great Fire of London started in at a bakery in Pudding Lane, an unassuming street in the heart of the City of London. The King’s baker, Thomas Farrier, lived and worked at the Pudding Lane bakery.

It’s unclear exactly how the fire started. Farrier denied leaving this fire alight before going to bed. The blaze spread quickly amongst the 17th-century flammable timber housing and straw roofs. Recovering from a long drought, the houses caught fire quickly and were packed together so tightly the flames easily jumped from street to street fanned by a strong east wind. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).