London Great Fire 1666 Audio Walking Tour
Follow the Great Fire of 1666 from Pepys's garden on Seething Lane past the Monument, Cheapside, Guildhall and St Paul's to the Golden Boy of Pye Corner.
- 7 stops and 19 minutes of stories, told as you reach each place
- The intro and stop 1 are free in the app: try before you buy
- Download before you go; the audio plays without signal (the street map needs a connection)
- Walking with friends? Pick 1 to 10 seats; everyone hears each stop on their own phone, at the same moment
30 seconds of the real narration
Plays in the free Walk With Me app on iPhone and Android.
The story in order
- 2 September 1666The Monument and Pudding Lane
At about one in the morning a fire starts in Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane. Nobody knows how. - 2 September 1666Seething Lane Garden
Around three, a maid wakes Pepys to see the glow; he thinks it far enough off and goes back to bed. - 3 September 1666Royal Exchange
Monday: driven by an east wind, the fire reaches the City's trading heart, and the Exchange burns. - 4 September 1666St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside
Tuesday: Cheapside goes up, and Bow church with it. - 4 September 1666Guildhall Yard
Tuesday night: the Guildhall glows for hours without flames; its roof burns, but the medieval walls hold. - 4 September 1666St Paul's Cathedral
The same night Old St Paul's burns; the booksellers' stock in its crypt, Evelyn wrote, kept burning for a week. - 5 September 1666Golden Boy of Pye Corner
Wednesday: the wind drops and gaps blown with gunpowder hold. The old story says it stopped here; it spread further.
Hear stop 1: Seething Lane Garden
The first 30 seconds, exactly as you'll hear them on the street.
You're in a small public garden on Seething Lane. This was the site of the Navy Office, where Samuel Pepys both worked and lived. Look for the bust of Pepys, and then look down. The stone pavers are carved with scenes from his life, and one of them shows the Parmesan cheese and wine he buried. Hold on to that; it comes later. At the top of the lane is St Olave's, Pepys's own church, and just to the south you can see the brick tower of All Hallows by the Tower.
On the night of Saturday 1 September, the household was busy getting ready for a dinner party. Pepys wrote: "Some of our mayds sitting up late last night to get things ready against our feast to-day, Jane called us up about three in the morning, to tell us of a great fire they saw in the City." He put on his nightgown and looked out of her window. "I thought it far enough off," he wrote, "and so went to bed again and to sleep."
About this tour
Plenty of people learn about the Great Fire as children. On foot, you feel the distances. Pepys's garden to the bakery is eight minutes. The Exchange to Cheapside, six. You can walk in an hour what the fire took four days to burn, past the hall that survived it, the column that remembers it and the churches Wren raised in its place, along streets that still follow the old plan. Pepys and Evelyn wrote as they walked these streets, so walking them yourself is the closest you'll get to their diaries. When you're done, open the Walk With Me live map to see who else is out walking London today.
The route
3 km in walking order from Seething Lane Garden to Golden Boy of Pye Corner. Stop 1 is free in the app.
- 1Seething Lane GardenA small garden on the site of the Navy Office, carved pavers underfoot, and the night Pepys's household was woken by a glow.Free in the app
- 2The Monument and Pudding LaneWren and Hooke's column, measured to the bakery where it all began, a Lord Mayor's poor judgment, and words later removed from it.£7 to go in, optional
- 3Royal ExchangeThe columned Royal Exchange under its gilded grasshopper, a merchant's statue, and what a diarist found in the ruins two days later.
- 4St Mary-le-Bow, CheapsideWren's steeple of Bow Bells on Cheapside, London's old high street, and the souvenir Pepys picked up walking over hot coals.
- 5Guildhall YardThe City's medieval town hall with a Roman arena traced in its paving, and the night it glowed like burnished metal.
- 6St Paul's CathedralWren's cathedral on the hill where the old one stood in scaffolding, lead running down the street, and the one effigy that survived.£27 to go in, optional
- 7Golden Boy of Pye CornerA small gilded boy high on a corner near Smithfield, the sin his plaque blames, and where the fire was really held.
What costs extra
2 stops have a ticket to go inside. The story plays outside, so going in is your choice.
| Stop | Inside | Ticket from |
|---|---|---|
| 2. The Monument and Pudding Lane | Optional | £7 |
| 6. St Paul's Cathedral | Optional | £27 |
Toilets and water on the way
6 public toilets (0 free) and 8 drinking fountains within 150 m of the route.
| Stop | Nearest toilet | Nearest water |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Seething Lane Garden | 158 m, free | 277 m |
| 2. The Monument and Pudding Lane | 87 m | 36 m |
| 3. Royal Exchange | 14 m | 309 m |
| 4. St Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside | 91 m | 26 m |
| 5. Guildhall Yard | 262 m | 200 m |
| 6. St Paul's Cathedral | 86 m | 94 m |
| 7. Golden Boy of Pye Corner | 352 m, free | 399 m |
The full map is in our London guide. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Cheaper in a bundle
Photos: Robert Lamb / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0; Matt Brown / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.