The Great Fire Of London Samuel Pepys Apr 2026

Pepys’s final word on the fire comes from September 7, 1666, as he stood in the smoking ruins of St. Paul’s: “Thus, in one year, we have had the plague and the fire. And I have lived to see both. Lord, have mercy upon us.” But he did not wait for mercy. He rowed, he ran, he wrote, he ordered gunpowder blasts. He was afraid—his diary admits that again and again—but he never closed his eyes.

He wrote in his diary: “ We did cause the fire to be put out between the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple. But it was a desperate stop. ”

At two o’clock in the morning on Sunday, September 2, 1666, the maid of the naval administrator Samuel Pepys woke him up. She was not screaming. She was simply walking around the house, tying up her clothes. When the bleary-eyed Pepys asked why, she replied that she had smelled smoke for hours and now saw “a great fire” in the distance, near the Tower of London. the great fire of london samuel pepys

The summer of 1666 had been a cruel one. A drought had turned the River Thames into a sluggish trickle. Wooden buildings were desiccated tinder. Worse, the city had just survived the Great Plague of 1665, which killed 100,000 people. London was exhausted, bankrupt, and terrified. The last thing anyone wanted was another act of God.

But for the real Pepys experience, visit —his parish church, where he is buried alongside his wife, Elizabeth. The church survived the fire. Pepys himself paid for a new steeple. Pepys’s final word on the fire comes from

At 2:00 a.m., he walked from his home on Seething Lane (near today’s Tower Hill) toward London Bridge. He saw the fire “ in the form of a letter U, with a great tower of flame. ” He did not panic. Instead, he went to the Tower of London and ordered the garrison to blow up surrounding houses to create a firebreak. The Lieutenant of the Tower refused. He needed royal permission.

But his greatest act came on Wednesday, September 5. By now, the fire had reached the Fleet River and was threatening the Palace of Westminster (Parliament). The Duke of York had taken command, but the fire was still winning. Pepys watched as men with buckets and leather hoses were reduced to tears. Lord, have mercy upon us

But when Pepys returned to Bludworth, the mayor wept. “ Lord, what can I do? I am spent. People will not obey me. ” The fire was now chewing through Cheapside, one of London’s richest streets. Molten lead dripped from St. Paul’s Cathedral like candle wax.