Many archaeological sites in the City of London have remains and layers of burnt soil, ash, debris and rubble that date to the Great Fire. Particularly fascinating finds of this sort have come from the Pudding Lane area.
The site of Peninsula House on Pudding Lane, dug in 1979-80, unearthed a 17th-century cellar, about 30 metres from the bakery where the fire started. Here archaeologists found remains of 20 barrels of pitch and other burnt objects.
In 1974-5, on the site of New Fresh Wharf, further down the same street, another cellar was discovered containing supports for barrels and a leather bucket. Debris was used to fill in cellars and level ground after the fire. These, and other excavations, have given us valuable information about the spread of the fire and the rebuilding afterwards.