London burned for four days in September 1666… 13,000 homes lost, St Paul’s reduced to ash… but the question that still smoulders centuries later is this… 

Who really sparked the Great Fire of London?

The Origins of the Blaze

The fire began in a small bakery on Pudding Lane owned by Thomas Farriner. Early on the morning of September 2nd, flames broke out in the bakery and quickly spread through the wooden houses nearby. 

At first, Farriner denied responsibility, claiming his ovens had been properly extinguished the night before. But historians now widely agree that the fire began there, likely by accident.

As panic gripped the city, rumours started to spread that the fire had been started deliberately. Foreigners and outsiders were blamed, and even a watchmaker from France was falsely executed after “confessing” under torture. 

But modern research tells a different story: the Great Fire of London was almost certainly accidental, caused by a simple spark in Farriner’s bakery that grew into a catastrophe thanks to narrow streets, wooden buildings, and strong winds.

So while the mystery of who struck the first spark is solved, the Farriner bakery, it’s the fire’s rapid spread and devastating impact that has kept the story alive for centuries.

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If tales like the Great Fire of London intrigue you, why not experience history in a whole new way? With Mystery Guides, you don’t just learn about the past, you become part of the story.

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Fleet Street: The Search for the Holy Grail

Step into the shoes of a London journalist who claims to have solved the world’s greatest treasure hunt, the search for the Holy Grail. When an old diary surfaces with cryptic treasure hunt clues, you and your team must crack the code and uncover whether the

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City of London: The Mystery of the Great Coin Robbery

A chest full of gold coins arrives at the Bank of England. But when the lid is lifted… the gold has vanished! Was it an inside job, a master thief, or something stranger? Only by solving clever riddles and piecing together the truth can you uncover the culprits in this thrilling adventure.

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