The
Great Fire of London was a major
conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval
City of London inside the old
Roman city wall. It threatened, but did not reach, the aristocratic district of
Westminster,
Charles II's
Palace of Whitehall, and most of the suburban
slums. It consumed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches,
St Paul's Cathedral and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the City's 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll is unknown but traditionally thought to have been small, as only six verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of poor and middle-class people were not recorded, while the heat of the fire may have cremated many victims leaving no recognisable remains. A melted piece of pottery on display at the
Museum of London found by archaeologists in
Pudding Lane, where the fire started, shows that the temperature reached 1700
°C.