Description

The 2016 Great Fire of London £2 coin was produced by the Royal Mint in association with the Museum of London.

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. Starting as a small fire in a bakery in Pudding Lane, the fire quickly spread, mainly due to the buildings at the time being made from wood and crammed together in close proximity.

Remarkably, the number of casualties from this Great Fire was small, with possibly only 5 people dying, including the maid who had failed to extinguish the oven fires. However, the toll of those who eventually died from various ailments and exposure to the elements as a result of losing their homes and other indirect causes was considerably higher. In total, more than 13,200 houses were lost in the three days the fire burned, including 87 parish churches, the Royal Exchange, Guildhall, and St. Paul’s Cathedral, built during the Middle Ages — all totally destroyed or eventually knocked down and re-built.

After the fire, the city’s municipal service made the crucial addition of fire brigades, which were formed by insurance companies as a way of recouping the costs of extinguishing fires. Ultimately, Sir Christopher Wren, one of the most highly acclaimed English architects, was named to plan the new city, which would take the better part of 30 years to complete.