This deep dive covers The Human Cost — What Happened to Ordinary Londoners? within The Great Fire of London for GCSE History. Revise The Great Fire of London in Restoration England 1660-1685 for GCSE History with 11 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This is a high-frequency topic, so it is worth revising until the explanation feels precise and repeatable. It is section 7 of 17 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.

🏚️ The Human Cost — What Happened to Ordinary Londoners?

The statistics of the fire focus on buildings — 13,200 houses, 87 churches. But behind those numbers were approximately 100,000 homeless people (out of a total London population of around 400,000). What happened to them reveals how deeply unequal Restoration society was.

Immediate displacement: Tens of thousands of people fled with whatever they could carry. Moorfields (open land north of the city) became a vast refugee camp where homeless Londoners lived in makeshift shelters for weeks. Samuel Pepys recorded the scene: "all the sky on fire," and people "running about" with their goods. John Evelyn described it as a miserable and calamitous spectacle.

The poor were permanently displaced: Property owners could, in time, rebuild or sell their plots. Tenants and lodgers had no such rights. The Rebuilding Act 1667 required houses to be built in brick and stone rather than timber — which was significantly more expensive. Many of the poorest Londoners simply could not afford to return to the rebuilt city. Rents in rebuilt areas were higher than before. Some left London permanently.

Population took years to recover: London's population did not return to pre-fire levels immediately. Some historians estimate it took several years for the city's population to recover — evidence that displacement was not just temporary but caused lasting disruption to tens of thousands of lives.

Rebuilding benefited the propertied: The compensation system and the new rebuilding regulations were designed by and for property owners, merchants, and the Crown. Charles II lost little; the City's guilds and wealthy merchants recovered. The fire accelerated the commercial modernisation of the City of London, but that modernisation came at the cost of displacing its poorest residents.

Deaths under-recorded: The official death toll of just six seems implausibly low. Historians argue the deaths of the homeless, the very poor, and those who fled into the countryside were simply not counted. The Bills of Mortality only recorded burials in London parishes — those who died after fleeing, or who had no fixed address, disappeared from the record entirely.

This human dimension lifts "describe two features" answers beyond the physical statistics. Evidence about homeless camps at Moorfields and permanent displacement of the poor shows the specific knowledge examiners reward at Level 2.

Practice questions for The Great Fire of London

Where did the Great Fire of London begin on 2 September 1666?

A. A candle factory on Cheapside
B. Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane
C. The Royal Exchange on Cornhill
D. A timber yard near the River Thames

1 markfoundation

Which of the following best explains why Lord Mayor Bludworth's response to the Great Fire made the situation worse?

A. He ordered too many buildings demolished, creating gaps the fire jumped across
B. He fled London, leaving no authority in charge during the crisis
C. He dismissed the fire as minor and delayed ordering demolitions to create firebreaks
D. He ordered the docks sealed, preventing water supplies from the Thames

1 markfoundation

Quick recall flashcards

Where did the Great Fire start?

Thomas Farriner's bakery on Pudding Lane, in the early hours of Sunday 2 September 1666. An unextinguished oven overnight started the blaze that spread rapidly through dry wooden buildings.

How many houses were destroyed?

13,200 houses and 87 churches, including the medieval St Paul's Cathedral. The fire burned for four days, destroying about one-third of the City of London. Remarkably, only 6-8 deaths were officially recorded.

Aftermath & Rebuilding

Exam Technique: Historic Environment

The Human Cost — What Happened to Ordinary Londoners?