Evidence for the Fire

There is a huge amount of evidence for the Great Fire of London. Where does it come from?

• Eyewitnesses. Such a catastrophic event made a deep impression at the time and was frequently described in diaries, letters, books, newspapers and poems.
• Officials. Many official documents were released: royal proclamations, the official enquiry into the causes of the fire, the new legislation and buildings Acts, petitions to the king and the Lord Mayor for money to rebuild and so on.
• Artists. The fire became a popular subject of many paintings and engravings, some of which were reproduced abroad for foreign newspapers.
• Archaeologists. They find the physical remains of the fire during excavations. Soil layers from the mid-1600s are often burnt or contain fire debris. Cellars of buildings burnt in the fire have been found full of melted objects and other fire-damaged remains, which give us valuable evidence.