<P> 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 . </P> <P> 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 1250 ° C . </P>

When did the great fire of london start